


A Mother's Instinct

by tchutomu



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alpha Oohira Reon, Alpha Tendou Satori, Alpha Ushijima Wakatoshi, Alpha/Alpha, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, And even more sex, Beta Soekawa Jin, Explicit Sexual Content, I just love my fictional men pregnant, Intersex Omegas, Lactation Kink, M/M, Male Lactation, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mpreg, OK let's face it this is a Yamagata Harem, Omega Semi Eita, Omega Yamagata Hayato, Omega/Omega, Omegaverse, Pack Dynamics, Pack Family, Polyamory, Shifters, Shiratorizawa, There will be lots of babies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:47:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 10
Words: 40,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26323627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tchutomu/pseuds/tchutomu
Summary: When Yamagata Hayato’s village is invaded by a rogue pack, he just about manages to flee – he, and Tsutomu, the orphan pup he finds in a destroyed house. On his flight, a strange Alpha stumbles upon him and offers a shelter for the night. Even though Hayato doesn’t want to trust Ushijima Wakatoshi, he follows him – and a new life awaits him there, in the secluded outskirts of the mighty Shiratorizawa pack. Soon, the presence of him starts to shake the foundations of their pack; after all, an unmated Omega is prone to bring chaos into a pack which consists mostly of Alphas – and his effect on the stoic pack leader Wakatoshi is more than concerning …
Relationships: Semi Eita/Tendou Satori, Semi Eita/Tendou Satori/Ushijima Wakatoshi/Yamagata Hayato, Semi Eita/Yamagata Hayato, Tendou Satori/Yamagata Hayato, Ushijima Wakatoshi/Yamagata Hayato
Kudos: 164





	1. fateful encounter

Hayato is panting heavily, pressing the bundle in his arms closer to his chest. His feet are prodding rhythmically on the soft forest ground, moss and grass silencing his frantic, desperate flight. His heart is beating violently in his chest.

He has been running for so long – too long. But he can’t stop here. He must go on until he leaves the borders of his homeland behind.

It’s not safe for him – not anymore.

It would be easier and faster for him to shift, but with the bundle in his arms, it is impossible. He must keep it safe. He’s scared the running already caused damaged, scared to stop and check if it’s fine.

He can’t stop now. Even slowing down is out of question.

If they don’t make it out of the forest, then all his efforts go to waste.

He cannot risk someone noticing there were any survivors.

Then, slowly, his surroundings change. The trees around him grow scarcer, the soil gets firmer, his feet prodding louder on the hardening ground. But he keeps on running until the forest turns into a distant whisper behind him.

He’s on some sort of pathway, surrounded by agricultural fields. He doesn’t know where he is, or what to do now, but at least he left his homeland behind – for good.

Panting heavily, he wills his feet to slow down. Once he falls into a slow walking pace, his knees give in and he falls to the ground, arms wrapped around the bundle as if he’s able to keep it safe like that.

His heart is beating so fast in his ribcage that it feels like it’s about to collapse.

Hayato is wheezing, coughing and feels his chest heave from over-working himself, but he manages to calm down slowly.

He eyes his surroundings while trying to catch his breath, to make sure he really is alone, and that no one followed him. He’s surrounded only by rows and rows of fields. There are no other signs of civilisation.

He gulps; then, he looks down at the bundle in his arms.

He must check on it. But he’s so scared. What if he accidentally hurt it? Squeezed it to death? What if he unwraps it now and finds nothing but another pointless, violent death?

Again, he feels like he’s about to pass out from exhaustion and panic.

_No_ , he thinks. _No, get a grip on you, Yamagata Hayato. Calm the fuck down._

He loosens his grip on the bundle and settles it down carefully into his lap. Then, he slowly unwraps it.

There’s a pup lying in his lap. It’s so young, maybe around two or three months old, only. There’s pitch-black fuzz on the small head that looks as soft as a crow baby’s feathers. Hayato lifts his hand, finger touching the soft hair carefully.

He watches as the pup scrunches its nose, and his heart almost leaps out of his chest when he realises it’s moving.

His finger strokes downward, touching the chubby cheek. As if this was a silent signal, the pup opens its mouth and starts screaming as if its life depended on it.

Hayato almost chokes on the sob that forces itself out of his throat. After all the terrors he has seen during the past hours, he now holds the gift of life in his trembling arms.

A pup.

_His_ pup.

He carefully detangles the linen fabric in which he has wrapped the pup hurriedly before running away from the destroyed house, and his village.

Hayato unwraps it, and then, he starts counting.

Ten tiny toes that he tickles gently.

Ten tiny fingers that he admires while kissing those small, squishy palms.

He’s perfect.

Hayato hesitates, big, hot tears streaming down his face. Then, he leans down and presses a gentle kiss on top of his pup’s head. It helps calming him down, easing the crying a little.

Carefully, he wraps the small body up again. By the time he is finished, the pup has calmed down, blinking at him with big, wet eyes.

Hayato lifts him up and holds him close to his chest.

“Tsutomu,” he says, tasting the name on his tongue. “I will call you Tsutomu from now on.”

The pup hiccups in response.

Now that the tension in his body, caused by anxiety and adrenaline, slowly fades, Hayato feels every muscle in bis body scream in pain. He’s not even sure if he can get up, let alone keep walking, but he has no other choice. He must find a shelter for the night, a safe place to sleep. And his pup needs to eat.

He can’t stay –

“What are you doing here?” A low, rough voice asks from behind.

Hayato turns around hastily, panic rising in his chest.

Behind him stands a tall, broad man with a stern face. Olive eyes muster him silently.

He’s an Alpha. Hayato can sense it immediately, see it, smell it.

The panic rushing through him gives him enough energy to jump back on his feet, pressing Tsutomu close against his chest. Power he didn’t know he had rushes through his veins when he retreats carefully, growling lowly at the unknown man, a warning to not come any closer.

Tsutomu is squirming against him, whimpering, but it only makes Hayato wanting to protect his pup even more. He bares his teeth at the Alpha, despite knowing that in a serious fight, he would never stand a chance.

In this moment, omega instincts kicking in, he is ready to try and kill the stranger if he tries as much as moving closer to his pup.

“You cannot sit here,” the alpha says. He is calm, despite Hayato’s threatening aura. Every other person would have at least flinched when being faced with the anger of an Omega who tries to keep their pup safe.

“It will get cold at night. Can you go home? It is not safe here for you.”

His peaceful aura helps Hayato calming down a little, but he stays cautious.

The stranger doesn’t make an attempt to do anything besides standing there and looking at him and Tsutomu.

“I … can’t,” Hayato says between clenched teeth.

The Alpha blinks sheepishly at him. “Why can you not go home?”

Hayato bites down on his lip. He doesn’t know the guy, which normally would be a reason to distrust him. But, if he doesn’t know his face, that must mean he is not part of the pack that attacked his village and burned it to ashes, killing everyone and …

“I –“ Hayato almost chokes on his words. “I … do not have a home anymore.”

The Alpha blinks at him, contemplating. He furrows his brows a little.

“Then, you can come with me,” he says. “Otherwise, you and your pup will freeze to death. I do not recommend risking that.”

Hayato stares at him with wide eyes. His stomach is lurching at the thought of trusting a _stranger_ with his and his pup’s life, especially after they fled hell itself. But then again, he doesn’t smell any danger or bad intents on the Alpha, and really … he has no other choice, has he?

“Why would you help me?” He asks nonetheless, cradling the squirming, whimpering baby a little. Tsutomu seems to sense his tenseness, and he tries to ease it up a little for the pup.

The Alpha looks at the bundle in his arms.

“I do not think it would be nice to find you and your baby dead on my fields in the morning. It is very cold. I also do not think you are dangerous. Offering a place to sleep for you and your baby is the only right thing to do.”

Hayato hesitates, staring at him to find any signs of hidden intents, but the Alpha just offers a blank expression.

“What’s your name?” He asks, unsure of what to do.

“I am Ushijima Wakatoshi. I will not harm you. I promise.”

Hayato sucks his lower lip between his teeth. Tsutomu’s low whimpering soon turns into a loud cry, as he feels the linen fabric getting wet. Blinking in surprise and yelping lowly, he holds the baby away from his body. The now dripping fabric and the pup, head beet-red from screaming his lungs out, is enough for him to give in.

“Please,” he says. “Please lead the way.”


	2. a poor excuse for an omega

Hayato spends twenty minutes on the load area of Ushijima Wakatoshi’s pick-up. It’s uncomfortable and the road is rocky, even though Ushijima tries to drive as carefully as possible.

Hayato unwraps Tsutomu from the spoiled linen and instead, wraps him up in his own jacket. The pup needs a warm bath, something to eat and a good night’s sleep. Hayato never had a pup before, so he’s guessing more than he actually knows what to do, but at least he’s trying. And if Ushijima doesn’t try to kill them, he might at least get the chance to take care of Tsutomu properly.

As they drive, the sun begins to set. Hayato shudders in the cold wind, holding the baby close to his chest to warm him up. Tsutomu starts squirming again, crying lowly.

Hayato is sure he must be hungry. But what to feed him, he doesn’t know. Of course he doesn’t, he has always been unfitting to be an Omega. Not showing the typical behaviour, or looks, not being as dainty and fragile as most of the Omegas in his village. He nibbles on his lower lip, lost in his thoughts while rocking Tsutomu in his arms, and cooing sweet nothings to calm him down a little.

He’s so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he only realises they have reached their destination when the pick-up suddenly comes to a halt.

He jolts up, watching as Ushijima exits his driver’s cabin of his car. Then, he opens the load area, offering Hayato a helping hand to leave it.

He doesn’t take it, though, clinging onto his baby while he jumps down onto the ground, legs almost giving in at the impact. He stumbles, and Ushijima reaches out for him, but just before he touches the strange Omega, he stops himself.

 _Good_ , Hayato thinks, regaining his composure. He doesn’t want him to get too touchy. He doesn’t trust him, after all, even though he has no choice but to believe him that he means no harm.

Ushijima blinks at him, his shivering frame, and the crying pup in his arms.

“We should go inside. Your pup must be hungry. You can feed him once you are inside.”

“I … uh, yes,” Hayato stammers, feeling his cheeks heat up. “I, uhm, I mean … I … ah, would you maybe let me bathe him? Since he, uh, wet himself and everything?”

Ushijima stares at him for a few seconds before nodding.

“Very well. We can arrange that. Eita can spare diapers for him as well.”

Hayato doesn’t know who this Eita-person is, but if they can give him diapers for Tsutomu, he will not complain. So, he follows the tall Alpha. Hesitantly, he lets himself be guided into a big house, which, even in the dark, looks like it’s part of an even bigger farm.

Hayato cautiously steps through the front door after Ushijima. As soon as the door falls shut behind him, there’s an exasperated sigh coming from a room near the entrance.

A few moments later, there’s an ash blonde guy standing in the hallway and looking at Ushijima with such a displeased look on his face that even Hayato flinches a little.

“We will never wait with dinner for you, ever again,” the guy growls. “the fu- I mean the da- ugh the flounder tastes like horse dung when it’s cold, thank you very much.”

Ushijima tilts his head in an apologetic manner.

“Yes. I beg your pardon. It will not happen again.”

“We ate half an hour ago. You can enjoy your fuc… your dinner alone now.”

Ushijima bows his head a little.

Then, with a slight nod behind him, he explains: “I found someone on the fields. I wanted to help, so I took him with me. It took a little longer. Please forgive me.”

“You _what_?” The guy asks, baffled. He leans to the side to peek behind Ushijima, and when he sees Hayato, shivering and pressing the pup that is provisionally wrapped into his sweat jacket, he lets out a surprised yelp.

“Holy shit,” he curses, surrounding Ushijima and coming closer. “You’re freezing! Is that a pup? Jesus, Wakatoshi, why didn’t you say something earlier!! The poor thing is shivering! What happened to you? You look exhausted – please, come in!”

Hayato feels dizziness overcoming him when the unknown guy starts fussing over him. The scent he releases is so warm and comforting and calming that Hayato almost feels like he just arrived at home – though there is no such place like a home for him anymore.

He opens his mouth as to say something, but honestly, he doesn’t know what. So, he steps out of his muddy shoes, and he lets himself be lead towards a warm kitchen.

 _He’s an Omega_ , Hayato realises. His scent gives it away as much as his caring attitude. Despite how harshly he has scolded Ushijima, he still seems like the motherly type to Hayato.

“What’s your name? Come in, I will make you a cup of tea. Jesus, what happened to you? I’m Eita, by the way. Semi Eita.”

“Uh … I … uhm, my name is Yamagata … Hayato,” he says, hesitating. Ushijima, who followed them at a slower pace, gives him a blank look.

Right. He hadn’t introduced himself before.

Hayato gulps.

Apart from them, the kitchen is empty, though Hayato can easily tell that there must be more people living in this big house. He’s glad that he doesn’t have to see anyone else, though. He feels overwhelmed just by Semi and Ushijima alone.

“Can I … I mean can I maybe clean up my pup? He wet himself earlier and, uh, I … I don’t have diapers or clothes … or milk …”

He feels the nagging feeling of guilt inside of him – because he’s a poor excuse of an Omega, and his pup is in a miserable state, but also because he asks so much from a stranger.

Semi’s eyes widen in shock. He takes a closer look at the baby in his arms.

“Alright, wait a sec. I’ll grab something from Kenjirou, it might be a bit too big for your little one here, but it’s better than nothing I guess.”

Semi leaves the room.

The silence he leaves behind feels heavy and uncomfortable.

Hayato knows he has no other choice. He’s never been good at asking for help, but now, there’s no other way. Ushijima had offered to take him in for the night willingly, and even this Semi-guy seems nice enough, yet Hayato feels bad to ask for their kindness like this.

When Semi comes back, he’s holding some baby clothes and a diaper in his hands, and he gestures Hayato to follow him, leading him into a large bathroom that’s packed with stuff. A big bathtub fills most of the space, but three sinks and too many toothbrushes, and lots of baby and children’s equipment is there to be seen, too.

Semi starts to prepare a small tub that must be made for bathing babies.

He doesn’t talk, but when he checks the water temperature and waves Hayato over, telling him to unwrap his baby and lower Tsutomu into the water, he looks at him with so many questions in his eyes that Hayato almost can’t take it.

He watches his pup as he lowers him into the warm water. The baby cries out in shock and displeasure, but soon relaxes into the warm water. Semi hands Hayato a mild soap and shampoo, and he washes Tsutomu gently.

It’s probably the first time that he’s able to take a deep breath ever since he left his village.

“You look like you went through hell and back,” Semi suddenly says, voice calm and almost gentle, as if he is afraid he might scare Hayato away. “It’s fine. You don’t have to tell me why you’re on your own with your pup, with nothing but your clothes on you. But please know you don’t have to be scared. You’re safe here. Your pup is safe, too. I promise.”

Hayato looks up in surprise. He watches Semi’s eyes drifting off to Tsutomu, who splashes the water with his small fists and making cute baby noises.

“Thank you, Semi-san,” Hayato says after a while. The other Omega snorts in surprise.

“Call me Eita. Please, no honorifics. I’m too sleep-deprived and too stressed out to care about such bullshit.”

Hayato can’t help but smile faintly.

“Let’s put him out of that tub. You should feed him; he looks like he is about to scream down the whole house if he doesn’t get something to eat soon.”

Chuckling, Hayato accepts a towel and dries off his baby.

Putting on the diaper and the babygrow feels calming. When he finally lifts Tsutomu up and holds him close to his chest, he’s smiling a little.

“Thank you … Eita. Really. Thank you so much.”

“It’s fine, Hayato. I’m a mother myself, you know. We must stick together.”

He blinks at Eita in surprise, having guessed the other male was the same age as him. And he already is a mother! Maybe he had miscalculated his age, but he still thought he was utterly young, despite his caring nature.

That means, _Kenjirou_ must be his pup if Hayato’s not mistaken.

“C’mon, let’s go back to the kitchen. I’ll prepare a bath for you once this little man is fast asleep, ‘kay?”

Hayato takes a deep, silent breath before he nods.

He follows Semi back into the kitchen, seeing Ushijima sitting alone at the table and eating his cold dinner, consisting of boiled flounder, soup, rice, and vegetables.

Hayato can feel how his own stomach growls at the sight of the food, but he’s glad it’s almost inaudible. He let’s Semi push him onto a kitchen chair and watches him rummaging on the counter to prepare tea.

“I assume you still breastfeed him?” Eita asks. “He’s so small. How old is he? Two months?”

Hayato opens his mouth, and he feels his chest tighten up. He can’t tell them that he found Tsutomu in a destroyed house, the bodies of his real parents ripped into pieces and spread around the living room like a grotesque piece of art.

He feels his stomach lurching at the memory and, to distract himself, he buries his nose into Tsutomu’s soft hair. It smells milky, sweet, and somewhat powdery. Hayato already loves this scent. It helps him calm down almost immediately.

“Two months,” he spontaneously decides. “And I … I’m … I fear I must ask for a supply, my … I wasn’t able to provide mother’s milk for too long, my breasts went, uh … dry some time ago. I’m very sorry –“

Semi hums in acknowledgement, but Hayato can feel Ushijima’s disapproving glance on his skin. It feels like it’s creeping up inside of him, reminding him of what everyone has told him all his life – he’s a poor excuse for an Omega.

“Alright, I’ll prepare a bottle for him, don’t worry. I couldn’t breastfeed my second one for too long, either. It happens. ”

“Thank you, Eita,” Hayato croaks. He doesn’t know how to feel about the kindness these strangers offer him, and despite knowing that Ushijima probably thinks he’s a horrible Omega, and an even worse mother, he’s still helped him.

He is so lost in thought, cradling Tsutomu while trying to wrap his head around why these people would try to help him without even knowing him, that he almost misses Eita putting a cup of tea in front of him, and handing him a bottle.

“Here. The temperature should be right.”

Hayato looks up, his dark eyes big, eyebrows knitted together in confusion. He opens his mouth to thank him again, but Eita just grins and says: “Feed that little one, or he might start to cry and wake Kenjirou. I swear this little brat is such a light sleeper. He will keep me awake all night when wakes up now. Take the bottle, Hayato.”

Nodding, he takes it. He adjusts Tsutomu in his arms and, with his heart beating like crazy and a warm, fuzzy feeling bubbling up in his stomach, he watches the pup latching onto the bottle and starting to suck on it like he has been starving. Which he probably was. Hayato doesn’t know how often babies need to be fed, but he muses he will find out very soon.

“What’s his name?” Eita asks while watching them with a soft expression on his face.

Hayato smiles.

“Tsutomu.”

Despite the pain in his body, and the exhaustion in his bones, Hayato only takes a quick bath. He doesn’t want to leave Tsutomu alone for too long, even though he is fast asleep, lying on a makeshift bed made of comforters and is being watched by Eita.

Hayato feels incomplete, anxious, insecure. He wants to be close to his pup again, not wanting him to be alone with strangers, no matter how kind they are.

So, he hurries and puts on the change of old clothes Semi had offered to him, a pair of too big sweatpants (Eita is taller than him) and an even bigger shirt that, Hayato assumes, doesn’t even belong to Eita. He is sure now that there must be more people living in this house, even though he didn’t get to see any of the other residents so far.

With his hair still wet, he hurries back through the kitchen and into the living room.

On the floor, Eita had prepared a guest futon for him, so that he can sleep beside his pup.

Right now, Eita is sitting on the floor next to Tsutomu, softly caressing the pup’s small hands.

When he hears Hayato enter, he grins at him.

“Tsutomu is so cute. I’m envious, honestly. He’s sleeping so deeply …”

Hayato frowns a little.

“Does your pup wake up at night often? How old are they?”

“Six months,” Eita replies, smiling softly when Tsutomu grabs his index finger in his sleep.

Hayato feels a pang of jealousy burning in his chest, so he steps closer and sits down onto the futon, watching his pup moving in his sleep. He can’t help but to bend down and kiss his head, rubbing his nose into the soft hair and smelling him, scenting him a little.

Eita pulls his hand away and watches them.

“Kenjirou never sleeps more than three or four hours at a time. He will probably wake up in an hour and scream the whole house down.”

“Is your mate with him right now?” Hayato asks curiously.

“Yeah,” Eita breathes. “Satori is sleeping, though. They both are. I should go to bed, too. I’m fucking exhausted. You also should get some rest. Please feel free to use whatever you need. I left some diapers in the bathroom. Also, if Tsutomu gets hungry, just make him something, it’s alright. Everything you need is on the counter in the kitchen. Feel at home here, please.”

Hayato almost chokes on the feelings welling up in his chest. His eyes start burning, and it takes everything he has in him to not sniffle loudly and start crying like a baby.

“Yeah … Thank you so much, Eita. Really. I don’t know what I would’ve done without your and Ushijima’s help.”

“It’s fine, don’t mention it,” Eita grins sleepily. He gets up and pats Hayato’s shoulder before making his way back to the hallway. “Good night, Hayato. Sleep tight.”

“Yeah. You, too.”

“We’ll see,” Eita sighs. “We’ll see.”

Turns out, Hayato is too jumpy to sleep properly. Even though he feels deadly tired, he keeps jolting up at every sound. Two hours after he went to bed, Tsutomu starts moving around and making impatient noises. Hayato puts him into his arms, and when the sounds he makes get whinier, he decides to prepare a bottle.

When he enters the kitchen, he sees Eita sitting there, hair a mess, clothes in disarray, face sickly pale. The circles under his eyes look even worse now that he’s rocking a baby in his arms which keeps complaining loudly.

So, that must be Kenjirou.

“Eita,” Hayato greets, staring at him with big eyes.

He only gets a muffled groan in response, so Hayato decides to simply move on with his task.

“I wanted to prepare a bottle for Tsutomu,” he explains. Eita hums weakly. It sounds like he’s approving, so Hayato walks over to the counter and starts working on making some food. Thank God the package explains exactly how to prepare a bottle.

Once he puts it onto the table to cool down a little, he goes back into the living room and scoops Tsutomu up.

The pup is wide awake now, but he doesn’t make too much of a fuss. Still, when Hayato takes a seat at the table and puts the bottle to his mouth after checking the temperature, he latches onto it hungrily and empties it almost completely.

When he puts Tsutomu on his shoulder to burp him, he sees Eita wavering in his sitting position. He hastily puts a hand on his shoulder to fix him in his seat.

“Eita, I think you should go to sleep,” he suggests.

The other Omega only groans in response, while Kenjirou loudly complains about the sudden movement.

The pup looks truly angelic, with honey-coloured hair that looks as soft as silk, milky skin and big, amber-coloured eyes. Still, Hayato gets the impression he might be a bit on the moody side. Eita looks as if he didn’t get a proper night’s rest for weeks.

“I can’t put him down, or he’ll start crying,” Eita weakly replies. Hayato frowns at him.

“Then, would you let me take care of him for a bit? I can’t fall asleep anyways. You can lie down on the sofa for some time, so you’re close to him. Maybe you can get a bit of rest, then.”

Surprised, Eita blinks at him. He opens his mouth as if he wanted to decline, but then he just nods.

“Yeah – please. That would be nice.”

He gets on his feet and gently puts Kenjirou on Hayato’s free arm. Now, with two small pups in his embrace, Hayato feels kind of giddy. Even though he has almost zero experience with babies, he had always dreamed of becoming a mother one day, no matter how small the chances had been. While Tsutomu is too small to keep himself up for more than a few seconds, head plopping onto Hayato’s shoulder for support again and again, Kenjirou grabs a handful of Hayato’s shirt and stares at him in a mixture of curiosity and disbelief.

Hayato can’t help but chuckle and coo at him. He’s such a beautiful baby, Hayato wonders how Eita’s mate must look like. Eita himself already is an attractive, handsome Omega and it shows in his pup.

He follows Eita into the living room that is dimly lit by a small lamp in the corner of the big room.

Eita crashes on the couch, groans and only a few seconds later, he starts snoring peacefully. He didn’t even cover himself up with a blanket. Hayato contemplates his options and decides his safest bet is to put Tsutomu back down on his makeshift bed and cover Eita up with his free hand, then.

It takes him some manoeuvring and some complaining from Kenjirou before he is able to fulfil the task. Then, he sits down beside Tsutomu’s bed again, rocking Kenjirou on his lap and playing with some stuffed animals that the boy tries to grab with his chubby fingers. He watches his own pup falling asleep again, fed and satisfied.

The rest of the night, he spends with getting to know little Kenjirou better, who, around 5am, starts dozing off on his lap. Gently, he puts him down on Tsutomu’s bed and covers them both with the baby blanket Eita gave him for Tsutomu earlier. He watches him falling asleep, fingers clinging onto one of Tsutomu’s hands. They look so cute, Hayato feels like combusting.

But still, with all the peaceful calmness around him, he can’t find it in him to fall asleep. As soon as he closes his eyes, the terrors of the past hours come back to him, haunting him. Also, he cannot stop worrying. He needs to make a plan. Figure out where to go. How to take care of Tsutomu. He doesn’t know a single thing about taking care of a pup, and he has no money.

So, what should he do, now?

But no matter how hard he is wrecking his brain, he just doesn’t know. His best bet might be to ask for a little proviant and then try to continue his journey. Maybe he could seek out human territory. They usually don’t form packs, so they’re not as averse to strangers as shifters are. He’s still surprised that Eita and Ushijima had accepted him in their house so easily.

He knows that his old village, the pack he was born into, would’ve never allowed a stranger to be in their midst.

Still, Hayato doesn’t know how far he would have to walk until he leaves the shifter-ruled grounds behind. He doesn’t even know where he is right now, having never left his home before. It’s not that he considered himself to be held captive, but he hadn’t been free, either.

Right now, not having any borders feels like the most terrifying thing.

He snaps out of his thoughts when there’s a low rumble in the kitchen. Quickly, he shoots the pups a glance, still sleeping tightly, with Tsutomu’s fist tucked neatly into Kenjirou’s mouth who’s nibbling and drooling on it in his slumber.

They’re still asleep, and so is Eita.

So, as silently as possible, he gets up from his sitting position and tiptoes into the direction of the kitchen. Ushijima must be awake again, making coffee or something. Hayato plans on asking him how far he will have to go until he reaches human territory. He has a hunch if he asked Eita, the Omega would scold him for even thinking about leaving so soon, with no money or ideas what to do with his and his pup’s life now.

He opens the door, sneaks into the kitchen, and closes the door behind himself silently.

When he turns around to the person causing the low ruckus, he stops dead in his tracks.

_This is not Ushijima._

Instead, a tall man with dark skin looks at him, surprised but not too alerted.

“Good morning,” he greets. “You must be the foundling, huh?”

The man puts down a steaming cup of coffee on the table and gives him a soothing smile.

“I’m Reon. Wakatoshi left a note on the table, saying that he brought someone in who needed a shelter for the night.” He points at a neatly folded piece of paper on the table. “Do you want some coffee, too?”

“Uh … I, uhm …” Hayato stammers. He gulps, nervous fingers playing with the hems of his too big shirt. “I – yes, I mean, I’m Hayato. Ushijima helped me, yes. I – uh … thank you for having me. And pardon for the intrusion.”

Reon chuckles before turning around to the counter again.

“Coffee? Or do you want tea? Eita will start preparing breakfast in half an hour. Although, if he’s not awake by now, he might have one of the rare days on which Kenjirou lets him sleep. It might take some more time, then. Are you hungry?”

“Oh! No, I mean, yes, I mean – coffee sounds nice!” Hayato bites his lip, thinking of the ashen-haired Omega, who, despite being so utterly exhausted, took care of Hayato and his pup. He wants to help him, even if it just means giving him a few minutes of undisturbed sleep in return for his kindness.

“Eita – his pup kept him awake until two or three in the morning,” Hayato says, watching Reon turning the coffee machine on. “He’s asleep now, and so is Kenjirou. I’d like to offer my help in preparing breakfast. Maybe Eita can get a little bit more of sleep like that.”

Reon shoots him a glance over his shoulder. His dark eyes gleam with kindness, and he nods.

“That’s nice of you. I must help Wakatoshi with feeding the pigs and chickens in a bit. But I’ll show you where to find everything. We’ll be back in an hour. I’ll make sure to bring some fresh eggs in first, I think we ran out of them yesterday.”

Hayato perks up at the permission to help. Reon quickly shows him where to find pots and the ingredients to make a proper breakfast. Apparently, he needs to feed a total of six adults and a toddler. No wonder the pots are big, and he has to adjust to make proper steamed rice in a pot with a heavy lid. No rice cooker could ever be big enough to contain rice for so many people. _Especially,_ he thinks, _when the guys living here are all farmers. It must be hard work that results in a big appetite._

Despite the ache in his limbs and the heaviness of his tired, sleep-deprived body, he goes to work with determination.

He’s used to cooking and enjoys it quite a lot. It’s one of the very few of his interests that made him qualify as a proper Omega. He still remembers that his pack mother only ever complimented him for his cooking, and he takes pride in it.

His hands work on their own, and when Reon comes back to drop off a basket with eggs, fresh morning air and the faint smell of hay sticking to his rough working clothes, he’s calmed down enough to thank him with a smile.

Once he’s finished with preparing the food and getting the table ready, it’s almost 8am. He has been cooking for an hour.

Now, he takes the time to search for a mirror, trying to force his hair to look halfway decent and clap his cheeks to get rid of his unhealthy pale skin colour. Then, he starts preparing tea for everyone.

Just when he’s contemplating if he should go and wake up Eita and the pups, the door to the kitchen opens once again.

Another stranger is standing in the doorframe, red hair still wet from a shower, and a kid sitting on his hip. He blinks at Hayato in surprise, who opens his mouth to explain and introducing himself, but the guy cuts him short.

“No, wait, lemme guess,” he says, grinning widely. The kid in his arms turns his head towards Hayato, looking curious and bored out of his mind at the same time. He has copper hair and the same amber-coloured eyes as Kenjirou.

“You’re Hayato, the Omega Wakatoshi has picked up last night. Semi-Semi already told me. Did you make breakfast?”

“I – yeah, I did. Eita is still asleep in the living room. I was thinking about waking him up and …”

The red-headed guy opens his mouth to speak but is cut off by a loud wail coming out of the living room. It takes only a few seconds for another high-pitched cry to chime in, and then, there’s a loud groaning noise.

“I don’t think that will be necessary anymore, Hayato-kun,” the guy shrugs. “I’m Tendou Satori, by the way. Call me Satori, yeah?”

He sets down the kid and opens the door to the living room. The crying noises instantly get louder, and Hayato himself hurries over to see what happened there. Kenjirou’s wailing must have startled Tsutomu, too.

The guy, Satori, picks up Kenjirou from the makeshift bed while Eita sits up, looking around disoriented and confused.

“Shit, did I oversleep?!” He sighs while Hayato picks Tsutomu up, kissing his forehead and cooing softly at him. “Satori? What time is it?”

“A few minutes after 8, Semi-Semi,” Satori answers softly, rocking Kenjirou to calm him down. Then, more to himself than to anyone else, he mutters: “And this moody pup over here needs a fresh nappy, alrighty …”

“Shit!” Eita curses, jumping up but holding still. He seems to feel dizzy, so Hayato steps forward, grabbing his arm to steady him a little. “It was my turn to prepare breakfast, ugh … I completely overslept, fuck …”

“It’s fine, Eita, stop worrying and take a deep breath, huh? I prepared breakfast. Reon told me where to find the ingredients and everything.”

It’s only then that Eita realises that he’s there, too. He stares at Hayato and the whimpering pup in his arms, and then, he glances at the open door to the kitchen.

Low noises and voices erupt from there, too. Seems like either Ushijima and Reon came home, or the last remaining resident of the house has awoken.

“Hayato,” Eita breathes. “You’re God-sent. I had …” With a quick glance over to the wall clock, he laughs almost maniacally, “I had about six hours of undisturbed sleep. Oh my God. Six hours. Did you hear that, Satori? _Six hours_ …”

Hayato frowns at him in worry. He lets go of Eita’s arm reluctantly, exchanging a quick glance with Satori who also seems worried.

“Eita-kun, I have an idea. How about I take the pups and take care of the dirty nappies, and you two sit down and drink some tea until Toshi and Reon are back. How does that sound?”

He comes closer, holding his free arm out for Tsutomu.

Hayato’s heart skips a beat. He can’t help but press the pup closer to himself for a second, but Satori seems like a decent person, and Hayato is also worried about Eita. So, reluctantly he hands him Tsutomu over and watches him leaving the living room.

Softly, Hayato grabs Eita’s arm and leads him into the kitchen.

Another stranger has shown up now, having the ginger-haired kid on his lap, helping him drink some of the fresh tea that Hayato has prepared.

The guy looks up at them in surprise, but he seems calmer than the rest of the residents, waiting until Hayato gently forced Eita so take a seat, and put a cup of steaming tea in front of him. Then, he gets one himself and sits down beside Eita.

“Good morning,” the guy says. He seems normal enough, not as threatening as Ushijima, but also not as quirky as Satori. “I’m Jin. I’ve heard we had an addition to the family.”

Hayato looks at him in surprise before laughing lowly. He puts a hand on Eita’s shoulder, squeezing it lightly, before leaning back into his chair.

“My name is Hayato. Ushijima offered me a shelter for the night. Thank you for having me.”

Eita seems to calm down, sipping on his tea and taking a deep breath. He blinks at the table, food prepared and covered up, everything pristine and ready. Again, he looks at the wall clock, and then, he settles the cup down and holds his hand out for the kid on Jin’s lap, taking him gently.

“How about you stay here forever?” Eita says, snuggling the toddler closer to his chest, and burying his nose into the ginger hair. Directed at Jin, Eita explains: “Hayato took care of Kenjirou tonight and let me sleep. For _six_ hours. Can you imagine? And he prepared breakfast. I want him to stay. I don’t give a single fu… _hhhf_ about what Wakatoshi thinks. I need him in my life.”

The kid in Eita’s lap looks up at him and repeats: “Fuuuhhhf!”

Jin snickers while Hayato can’t help but stare at them with wide eyes.

That must be a joke. Eita doesn’t even know him, and he just tried to repay his kindness by helping him a little. But, as it seems, the Omega must be pushed past his limits.

Last night, Hayato got an idea about what a difficult baby Kenjirou must be. If he always sleeps this badly and keeps Eita up at night, who has to take care of another kid, too, and the household on top, it’s no wonder he feels like someone helping him is a gift from the gods.

Hayato doesn’t know what to say, though. He doesn’t know if staying is even an option, and if yes, if he wants to. He doesn’t know if he would endanger the pack with his presence or not. He doesn’t know anything, truth to be told.

So, he does the only reasonable thing. He decides to ignore this for the time being, crouching down a little to get on the same height as the kid’s face.

“Hey there, little one,” Hayato says softly, smiling. “I’m Hayato. What’s your name?”

The kid seems shy, pressing closer to Eita, not quite able to hold Hayato’s gaze. He looks up to Eita, who nods at him.

“It’s fine, Taichi, he’s not a stranger. You can talk to him.”

The pup bites his lip before looking at Hayato again.

“Taichi,” he whispers. “I have four years.”

“I _am_ four years old, sweetheart,” Eita corrects with a gentle tone in his voice. He kisses the top of the kid’s head and explains: “He’s my first one.”

Hayato blinks in utter disbelief.

“Four?!” He repeats, before regaining his composure. “Wow, you are a big boy already, Taichi!” He adds, but he looks at Eita with big eyes. “I wonder how old your mummy is.”

The other Omega offers a lopsided grin.

“Mama is twenty-one.”

“W-wow, that’s a lot of responsibilities,” Hayato mutters.

Eita just shrugs and grins at him.

“Well, yeah. It was kind of an accident, but I’m happy, really. I wouldn’t want to miss him in my life. And I have my mate and my pack. They helped me a lot.”

Hayato chews on his lower lip before offering a smile.

“You really are amazing, Eita.”

“Nonsense,” he answers. “I mean you don’t look too old yourself and have a pup on your own. You … I don’t know what happened, but you defended him, and kept him safe until Wakatoshi found you and brought you here. That’s true strength in my opinion.”

Before the silence drags on for too long – because really, Hayato doesn’t know what to reply – the door is opened again. Satori comes back, carrying the pups. Behind him, Ushijima and Reon follow, the latter sniffing loudly and sighing: “Mhh, that smells delicious!”

Loud chatter fills the air. Hayato jumps up to take Tsutomu from Satori. He holds the pup close, now clean and happy with a fresh diaper. With big, dark eyes he looks up at Hayato, stretching his fingers to grab whatever he can get hold of his face.

Hayato can’t help but hide his wobbly, nervous smile by bending down and kissing the top of Tsutomu’s nose. When it scrunches up a little, he huffs out a laugh, kissing the baby’s cheeks fondly.

Eita doesn’t try to force the topic, so when Hayato finishes preparing the two bottles for their babies and settles down to feed Tsutomu, while the others start digging in, Eita sits in content silence, feeding Kenjirou while looking at his pup with loving eyes.

Hayato lifts his gaze from Tsutomu and looks at Eita before he mumbles: “Mummy is eighteen.”

The Omega looks up in surprise and musters Hayato, then his pup. A soft smile tugs at his lips, and he nods.

“Like I said … mother’s like us must stick together.”

“Yeah,” Hayato breathes.

He still doesn’t know what to do, or how to proceed from here on, but seeing as he might have found a friend in Eita, he feels a little less lost in this strange house with its weird pack. Maybe he can help him figure out a plan.

“Hayato-kun is an amazing cook,” Satori says all of a sudden, slurping his miso soup loudly. Reon nods and offers a soft smile.

“It is really delicious. Thank you for the meal.”

The others chime in, making Hayato blush furiously with all the praise.

When Ushijima looks up from his rice bowl and musters him with an unmoved face, Hayato’s stomach drops. But then, the stern Alpha says: “It is delicious. Thank you.”

Hayato can’t help but smile, and he hides his blushing face in Tsutomu’s chubby neck, making the pup squeal with delight at the soft nuzzling.

“Thank you all so much … for everything,” he answers with a shaking voice. Then, he feels Eita’s hand on his back, rubbing comfortingly.

“Don’t mention it. You’re more than welcome.”


	3. the haunted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings: Panic Attacks, Attempted Rape, Violence, Mild Underage, Post Traumatic Nightmares, Mentions of Postpartum Depression

_The scorching summer heat pressed down onto them, but they didn’t mind too much. They were children, running, climbing trees, and enjoying a sandwich at the banks of a calm river._

_Hayato was happy, running around with his friend. Tabi was always a little bit ahead of him, always out of reach. Hayato tried to run as fast, climb as high and throw pebbles as far as him, but he couldn’t quite match him._

_When they sat down at the river, he sighed._

_“Why are you so much stronger than me,” he whined, “it’s unfair!”_

_Tabi laughed._

_“It’s because I’m an Alpha. Easy!”_

_“Un-fair!” Hayato emphasised, watching the river longingly. It looked so welcoming, as if it wanted to invite them to swim in it. Tabi followed his friend’s gaze, and grinned._

_“Wanna dive in?”_

_“I didn’t bring my swimming trousers, though,” Hayato replied, tilting his head to the side. Tabi just shrugged._

_“Does it matter? We’re both boys. Who cares, let’s just jump in!”_

_Despite being only ten years old, Hayato knew he was different. They wouldn’t have sexual education in school for another year, but Hayato’s mother had made sure her son knew he wasn’t like his Alpha friends. She had always told him to not undress in front of them, or to not let them touch him._

_He didn’t understand what that meant, though. But now, as Tabi started undressing himself, he felt his cheeks heating up in embarrassment. Sure, he would look different than Hayato when he was naked, and maybe he would laugh at Hayato for being an Omega._

_Even though he didn’t know what that difference might be, he hesitated until Tabi stepped out of his pants and halted to watch him expectantly._

_“What’s wrong? You don’t wanna swim?”_

_He couldn’t say his mother had forbidden him to undress in front of his Alpha friends, right? That would be even more embarrassing._

_Hayato pondered his possibilities, but then decided that it couldn’t be that bad. Maybe his mother had just been over-cautious with her only child._

_So, he started stripping out of his clothes._

_He felt his friend’s gaze on him when his underpants plopped down onto the hard soil and heard him saying: “Oh. So you’re really an Omega.”_

_Hayato looked up at him, blinking in surprise. Then, his gaze drove downward, looking at Tabi’s peepee. It was bigger than his, but also, looked … different. Suddenly, he was very much aware of the soft slit between his legs where Tabi seemed to have something different. He pressed his thighs together in embarrassment and hissed: “Shut up, of course I am!”_

_With that, he wanted to make his way toward the river, but Tabi reached out for him, grabbing his wrist._

_“I’m sorry, Hayato, I mean … you’re really not like the other Omegas. But I like that! It’s cool, you know?”_

_Hayato tried to stay angry, but he just couldn’t. Tabi was the nicest of his friends. He didn’t want him to get angry with him, so he just shrugged and asked: “You really think so?”_

_“Yeah!” Tabi exclaimed, eyes travelling up and down his body. “I don’t like it when the other Omega’s get so whiny. Like, when Akira shoved Himiko and she started crying instantly. It’s so annoying. If I were about to choose a mate, it would be an Omega like you!”_

_Hayato felt his cheeks burn in heat. There was a weird, tingling sensation in his stomach. He looked up to his friend, who still mustered him curiously._

_“Can I see?”_

_“Huh? See what?”_

_Tabi gave him a lopsided grin._

_“The thing between your legs. I’ve peeked into a brochure my older brother brought home from sex ed, but there were only cartoony pictures. I’m curious.”_

_Tabi tugged him closer, and Hayato’s stomach dropped._

_“No,” he said, but his voice was weak and didn’t come out as loud and powerful as he wanted. “I don’t want that.”_

_“Come on,” the young Alpha hummed. His grip on Hayato’s wrist got so tight that it hurt. He forced Hayato closer._

_“Just spread your legs for a second, I wanna see.”_

_“No!” Still, his voice seemed so distant. He tried shoving the boy away, repeating, “Go away, don’t touch me! Keep your hands off me!” And while he tried to fight him, the surroundings changed. The bright blue summer sky darkened, heavy with clouds. Hayato’s voice got weaker and weaker, no matter how much he tried to scream._

_Tabi shoved him to the ground. The impact pressed the air out of Hayato’s lungs. He whimpered because it hurt, it really hurt, and he didn’t want that. His knees were grabbed roughly and spread apart._

_Hayato felt tears welling up in his eyes, and he said: “Stop it, please, please, Tabi, please don’t hurt me, I don’t want that, I don’t …”_

_“Oh, he really is an Omega!” The voice also had changed, turning from a pre-puberty squeaking into a deeper, much more unpleasant voice that Hayato didn’t recognise. He opened his eyes._

_Above him, there was an unknown man, dried blood on his dirty fingers, a feral glint in his eyes as he mustered Hayato’s crotch._

_“What an ugly Omega that one is. Doesn’t even look like one,” another person said, standing beside him. The person crouched down, shoving a hand under his shirt and squeezing his way too flat chest in disbelief. “He doesn’t even have a soft pair of tits. Probably never saw an Alpha cock before.”_

_“I feel sad for him, so I will give him_ my _cock, even though he’s so ugly that I will need to think of a cuter Omega to get hard …”_

_The fingers pressed even harsher into his knees, and then, wandered downward._

_Hayato squinted his eyes shut, and opened his mouth to scream –_

“Please calm down,” a deep voice says somewhere above him. There are big hands settling onto his shoulders, trying to keep him in place.

Hayato’s stomach churns at the unwanted contact.

“Get off me!” He screams, his voice suddenly complying. It feels weirdly loud, his body heavy. It’s dark around him, but he fights, hitting whatever he can, finding the guy’s face and scratching his fingernails over his skin. “Don’t touch me!!”

The guy hisses in pain, then, he growls at him: “I said _be quiet_. It is very late. You scared your pup. Come to your senses.”

His … _pup_?

Hayato stills, panting heavily. Now he’s able to hear the desperate crying of a child. There’s another voice, alternating between trying to calm the kid and hissing lowly, words Hayato can’t quite understand. Something about _You’re scaring him, Wakatoshi_ , and _He’s traumatised_ , and _Please make him wake up_.

Just then, he realises his eyes have been pressed closed. Slowly, he opens them.

The face that is hovering above him is Ushijima’s, brows furrowed, mouth a flat line, blood drawing out of four very prominent scratches on his left cheek. Hayato stares at him, and then, the turmoil in his chest gets too much. He starts sobbing violently, choking on his panic and tears and the horrors of something he never wanted to think about, ever again.

“Don’t,” he gasps. “Don’t touch me, _take your hands off me_ , please _, go away_ –”

Ushijima slowly loosens the grip on Hayato’s shoulders, and when he’s sure the Omega won’t start screaming again, he brings some distance between them.

“You are awake,” he just says. Hayato tries to sit up and scramble away. He slips on his blanket, body shivering in fear, and then backs off until his back hits the wall with a loud thud.

The crying of the infant slowly subsides, but it still sounds upset. Hayato feels so disoriented that it takes him half an eternity to realise which baby is crying.

“Tsutomu,” he says, voice suddenly frantic. “Where’s Tsutomu? My pup, where …”

“He is safe with Eita,” Ushijima explains, still watching him cautiously. “Did you calm down? It seems you have had a nightmare.”

“A … nightmare?”

Hayato searches the room, slowly coming back to his senses.

He’s in the living room of Ushijima’s house, the room in which he had been sleeping for a week now, with his pup by his side. His pup that is still making low noises of discomfort and fear.

“Please,” Hayato cries, hot tears streaming down his face. “Please give him to me, I … please …”

From the door that leads into the kitchen, Eita peeks into the living room. He musters Hayato’s miserable condition before walking into his direction slowly. The bundle in his arms is kicking and still whimpering.

“Hayato,” Semi says carefully when he gets onto his knees in front of him. “You’ve had a nightmare. Wakatoshi heard you screaming and woke me up to help you. Tsutomu was so scared, and we couldn’t get you to wake up. Are you alright? Do you want to talk about it?”

Hayato shakes his head frantically, reaching out for his baby.

“Please … give him to me, Eita … please, I promise I will not … I’m so sorry, I’m so, _so sorry_ …”

He starts sobbing again when Eita hands him the squirming pup.

Desperately, he brings Tsutomu close to his chest, burying his nose into the soft fuzz on his head. The scent helps him calm down a little. He kisses the small forehead, and then, starts scenting his pup out of pure instinct. During the week, he only scented him lightly. Never like this.

Eita watches him for a second, realising that being close to his pup might be the only thing to help the Omega to calm down. He turns away from the intimate portrayal of emotions and catches Wakatoshi staring at Hayato. Eita’s too shook to question it, so he gets up and urges Wakatoshi to follow him into the kitchen.

He leaves the door ajar, so they won’t miss any warning signs. Eita’s almost scared that Hayato might drop from the traumatic nightmare he just had. Even though he has never seen an Omega drop, he knows it can be deadly, so he stays alert.

Eita shakes his head to calm himself, then, he pushes Wakatoshi down onto a chair and walks off to fetch the first aid supplies out of the bathroom.

The scratches on the Alpha’s face are still bleeding.

“Let me clean these up,” Eita says, and he’s glad he has something to do. He has been so scared and the worry about his new friend is still eating at his insides.

“Thank you,” Wakatoshi replies. His brows are furrowed, and he seems to be deep in thought. From the living room, low sounds drag over into the kitchen. Wakatoshi turns his head, but Eita grabs his chin and forces him to face him again.

“Stop it. You shouldn’t stare at a mother who’s scenting their child like this. It’s very intimate. I think Hayato isn’t even aware he’s doing that right now.”

Wakatoshi scowls at him.

“I do not understand what happened.”

Eita’s face falls for a second before he shoves a cotton ball which is soaked in alcohol into one of the scratches. Wakatoshi hisses in pain, while Eita tries to not scream at him in pure anger.

“You don’t _understand_?!” He whispers harshly. “What is there to not understand? Jesus fucking Christ, Wakatoshi!! You really can’t be so dumb!”

But the Alpha just blinks at him as if he waits for an explanation.

Eita sighs in exasperation.

“He had a nightmare. We can only assume about what, but didn’t you listen to what he screamed in his sleep? Don’t touch me, get your hands off me? Stop, Tabi? Honestly … you’ve found him all alone with his pup wandering around, no money, no nothing on himself. Have you never asked yourself why he might’ve left his home like that?”

“He said he does not have a home anymore,” Wakatoshi recounts. “I thought it might have been destroyed. I did not want to ask invasive questions.”

“If you don’t want to invade his privacy,” Eita grunts, forcing him to look away from the door again, “then stop trying to look at him now. Honestly, how much of an idiot are you?! He’s _eighteen_ with a pup, unmated, fleeing his home. You wanna know what I think?”

Roughly, Eita cleans the scratches on Wakatoshi’s face and rubs some wound-healing ointment onto them.

“I think he had been with an abusive Alpha. Maybe he was raped, hence him screaming that this Tabi person should get off him and stop touching him. Maybe that’s how he got pregnant with Tsutomu.”

Wakatoshi blinks at him in surprise, but when he doesn’t reply, Eita adds: “I think no one in their right mind would decide to get a pup at the age of sixteen or seventeen. Especially not unmated.”

“You conceived Taichi at the age of sixteen,” Wakatoshi supplies, gaining a smack on the back of his head in response.

“ _That_ ,” Eita hisses, “was a fucking accident. I did not plan on getting a kid. In fact, I didn’t even think I would want kids ever in my fucking life, even with Satori by my side. Stop being so fucking dense you huge idiot.”

“I beg your pardon.”

Eita just clicks his tongue. He turns around to the door, not sure about what to do.

He knows he can’t comfort Hayato right now, but maybe he can help him find comfort in his pup.

Living together for a week had made it even clearer that, despite having given birth to a pup, Hayato doesn’t really know how to handle the baby. He tried to copy Eita’s behaviour for most parts, which only shows that he needs guidance from another mother even more.

So, Eita sighs and puts away the medical supplies.

“Go back to bed. I will take care of Hayato.”

Wakatoshi gets up but hesitates.

“What if he behaves violent again?”

It takes everything Eita has in him to not smack Wakatoshi senseless.

“He got violent because you, a big, strong and intimidating Alpha, forced him down onto the floor,” Semi spits as silently as he can. “If he really got raped in the past, it’s a wonder you still have both your eyes. He would never hurt me because I know when to leave someone alone. Jesus fucking Christ …”

With that, he leaves Wakatoshi behind and slowly enters the living room again.

Hayato is still huddled up with Tsutomu against his chest, breathing in the scent of his pup. His eyes are red from crying, but he seems to have calmed down enough that Eita can try talking to him.

“Hayato?”

The Omega startles and looks up, but once he recognises his friend, his posture eases up again.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbles.

“Stop apologising. It’s OK, I promise. Is Tsutomu still awake?”

“Mh … yeah …”

Eita drops on his knees in front of Hayato and looks at him with worry in his eyes.

“I have an idea that might help you and Tsutomu feel better.”

At this, Hayato perks up a little. He looks horrible, face pale, eyes red and swollen from crying, nose runny. If it were for Eita, he would drag him into a tight embrace immediately, but he reckons Hayato might not want to be touched right now.

“It’s quite intimate, so I hope you will forgive me for invading your privacy like this. But have you considered comfort nursing Tsutomu?”

“Comfort … nursing?”

“Yes.” Eita tries to search for the right words. “It’s … when a baby latches onto your breast to suck at it, but not with the goal of being fed. Sucking eases the baby’s mind. And being so close to your pup might help you calming down.”

“But I don’t even produce mother’s milk.” Hayato sniffles and rubs his nose on the big sweater Reon had lend him.

Eita can’t help but smile a little.

“That’s OK. As I said, feeding the baby is not the purpose of this. You know … when Kenjirou was born, I felt really weird. I was depressed for no reason and looking at him was hard for me. I thought I was a bad mother and couldn’t form a bond with my pup. Eventually, it got better. But what helped me closing the distance which I thought we had was … disrobing my chest and also Kenjirou down to his diapers, and then put him on my chest, wrap us into a blanket and let him suck on my breast for comfort. It’s a nice feeling, really.”

Hayato looks at his friend with wide eyes, a blush creeping up his cheeks.

“I should – … do you really think this might help Tsutomu?”

 _Yes_ , Eita thinks, _and it will definitely help you, too._

But he only nods and gets up on his feet again.

“If you want to give it a try, I will make a provisional nest on the couch for you two.”

Hayato hesitates before nodding slowly.

“I … would like to …”

Eita smiles at him before grabbing all the blankets and pillows he can find and starting to make a nest on the sofa. He tries to make it as comfortable as possible, and then he helps Hayato getting Tsutomu out of his babygrow. At last, Hayato hesitantly lifts his shirt and pulls it off.

Honestly, Eita can see why his mother’s milk run out so early. His chest is almost as flat as that of an Alpha, each breast would easily fit in just the palm of Eita’s hands. But he doesn’t say that now. It doesn’t matter.

Eita guides him gently. Hayato is insecure about how to hold Tsutomu to his chest, so Eita helps him, supporting his position with pillows and putting Tsutomu onto his chest. When the pup almost instantly latches onto his breast, Hayato gasps in surprise. His cheeks are flushed, his dark eyes fixated on his baby.

That’s exactly what Eita had in mind. He smiles, tugging the blanket over Tsutomu’s bare back.

Before he can leave the room silently, Hayato stops him.

“How … how long should I let him stay there?” He whispers, gaze still on his pup.

“For however long you want to do that. I think it will help Tsutomu fall asleep eventually, so he will stop when he’s about to doze off I suppose. Take all the time you need. I’m in the kitchen if you need me.”

“Eita?”

“Yes?”

“… Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Eita feels a smile tugging at his lips when he turns around to walk back to the door. It’s just then that he realises Wakatoshi didn’t leave. No. He’s very much still standing in the door, watching Hayato comfort nursing his pup with wide eyes and an unreadable expression on his face.

Eita’s stomach drops and hot anger wells up in his veins. He makes his way over without saying a word, shoving Wakatoshi back into the kitchen and closing the door. Then, he does his best to give him hell as silently as possible.

Meanwhile in the living room, Hayato can’t stop the tears.

He sniffles a little, watching as Tsutomu sucks on his breast with soft noises. He doesn’t even seem disappointed that no milk is coming out. The pup’s eyes look up at him, blinking while his mouth moves on its own.

It’s a weird feeling, a completely new one. And Eita has been right.

It feels comforting.

The soft noises Tsutomu makes, his breathing, the warm body against his.

It feels as if Tsutomu really is Hayato’s pup. As if he gave birth to him.

Slowly, Hayato let’s himself fall into the comforting sensation.

He still can’t believe he dreamed something so horrible.

That he would dream of Tabi, of all, just to then relive this experience … He doesn’t know how to explain this to Eita, or how to apologise to Ushijima for scratching his face so badly that it started to bleed. He really doesn’t want to talk about it.

Honestly, Hayato still vividly remembers the day during summer when he was ten years old. He remembers how Tabi had asked him to strip – and to show him the slit between his legs.

Now, Hayato can understand his curiosity. He didn’t know back then that his Omegan characteristics – his chest area a bit softer with fat and mammary glands; his hips a bit wider than the of an average boy; his small penis, probably incapable impregnating another person; and the additional slit, very much capable of producing slick, and welcoming an Alpha’s cock, and of conceiving a pup in the uterus it leads to –, that all of this might be of interest for an Alpha boy who has never seen this before.

Tabi had stared at the slit, but he had not touch him, just muttered “Oh”, and then, they went swimming like nothing happened.

Hayato had been sure that even though he wasn’t like other Omegas, not as soft and sweet and gentle, there would be at least one Alpha who might someday learn to like him, or even be interested in him as a mate.

When the unknown pack had invaded their village, killing Alphas and raping Omegas before they slaughtered them, too, Hayato had been almost raped by two violent Alphas if it hadn’t been for Tabi. He had forced them off Hayato and urged him to run before he tried to fight them.

Hayato only realises now that violent sobs are shaking his body again.

He tries to force his focus on Tsutomu, who’s now lazily sucking on his chest, his eyes slowly falling shut. He cradles the infant, pressing it close to him, and tries to wipe his tears on the blanket Eita has draped around his shoulders.

It will be fine. He will be fine. Even though he still doesn’t know where to go, or what to do with himself, he feels safe here. This weird, mismatched pack of kind and sweet weirdos has welcomed him in their middle, and with every day he spends with them, he feels more at home.

Though, now …

Hayato knows Ushijima is their pack leader. And he has hurt him. Scratched his face until it bled. Will he ever forgive Hayato for attacking him? Hayato has already been sure that Ushijima only tolerated him because his packmates came to like Hayato. But every time the stoic Alpha looks at him, he feels like a failure. Incapable of breastfeeding his pup. Screaming during his sleep. Scattering plates when he’s being clumsy. Laughing too loudly, being too bold, or generally – being the ugliest Omega this world has ever seen.

He doesn’t know if he can ever make up for hurting him.

Or if Ushijima will allow him to stay.


	4. a part of the pack

The next day, Hayato feels like shit.

It’s no wonder, honestly. He didn’t sleep a wink after his nightmare. The whole night until the sun started rising, he has been sitting there, snuggling the sleeping pup against himself and trying to calm down.

Eita has checked on him half an hour after Hayato has started comfort nursing Tsutomu, and Hayato has told him to go back to sleep. He would be OK, yes. He felt better, of course. It’s fine, don’t worry.

Honestly?

Nothing is fine.

But Hayato tries his best to keep the façade up.

At six, he gets up with Tsutomu still in his arms, who’s now slowly waking up. He coos at the baby and kisses his nose until the pup gives him one of his adorable laughs.

Then, he takes him to the bathroom, cleaning him up, bathing him. He himself takes a quick, cold shower. He just wants to feel awake, so that the terrors of the night will fade quicker.

At half past six, he starts making breakfast with Tsutomu lying in one of Taichi’s old Moses baskets on the table.

The pup keeps making cute noises that Hayato has started to reply to as if they had a conversation. Tsutomu would make guttural sounds, squealing a little, saying “baaaaah!” in a very earnest manner, and Hayato would look at him, nod and answer: “Oooh, really? Wow, that’s impressive.”

The more he does this, the more Tsutomu starts babbling back, alternating between making sounds and chewing on one of Kenjirou’s toys and kicking the air in excitement. It helps Hayato calming down so much that he starts smiling at his pup again, and he bends down to press soft kisses on his face, or blow raspberries onto his cheeks until he gifts him one of his toothless, precious smiles that Hayato came to love so much.

He doesn’t realise he’s being watched until someone in the doorway clears their throat.

Hayato startles so badly that the spoon he has been holding goes flying, crashing into the counter. The sudden noise also startles Tsutomu who starts wailing loudly.

Throwing a quick glance to the door, Hayato finds Ushijima standing there, watching him with an unreadable expression on his face. His stomach sinks, but he focuses on Tsutomu first, picking him up and cooing softly at him.

“Awww baby, I’m sorry. Did mummy scare you? Shhh, little one, it’s fine, it’s fine …”

“I beg your pardon,” Ushijima says in a low voice. He looks at the whimpering pup in Hayato’s arms before reaching out for him. “Please let me help calming him down.”

Hayato stops dead in his tracks, staring at the tall Alpha who, so far, has never expressed any interest in Tsutomu.

“I am used to hold babies,” Ushijima explains. “Taichi liked being held by me. I have been told my stoic nature makes them feel safe.”

Despite not wanting to hand his pup over, Hayato can’t help but muster the scratches on Ushijima’s cheek which he caused.

Really, Hayato has been sure the Alpha would kick him out of his house. Now offering to hold Tsutomu might also be an offer to make up and forget the events of the night. So, Hayato only hesitates a little before walking over and carefully handing him Tsutomu.

The pup, now safely tucked into the bulky Alpha’s arms, blinks in surprise at the change of environment. Ushijima looks down on him without any apparent expression on his face.

Hayato barely manages to suppress a manic laugh at this. It such a weird picture, he can barely wrap his mind around it.

“Maybe you should bend down a little,” he suggests. “He’s still very young, pups at his age have a bad eyesight.”

Ushijima furrows his brows and nods earnestly before bringing his face closer to Tsutomu’s.

The pup has stopped crying now, too curious about what is going on. Instead, he reaches out for the unknown face, trying to grab Ushijima’s nose.

“Baaaaah!” He says again, trying to get a hold of the Alphas face. Now, Hayato can’t help but giggle.

In a whispering tone, he advises: “You should answer him. It’s not very nice to not engage in a conversation when someone is trying to make the first step.”

“But what should I say?” Ushijima asks back while he, assumingly more on instinct than knowledge, starts rocking the pup a little, letting the hand pat at his face curiously.

“You can coo back. Say something like “da” or “awwww” or “You are right, Tsutomu-kun, I agree with you.”

Ushijima blinks confusedly, the pup squawking, “Bah! Baaaaah!”, again, and then, he approaches the curious baby hand with his mouth, presses a small kiss on the pup’s palm and, very calmly, says: “Baaaah indeed, I agree.”

Hayato’s smile falters as his heart skips a beat ( _or two, three, four_ –).

He can’t help but stare at them.

All this time, Ushijima has seemed like an unapproachable Alpha who thinks he’s too good to talk to someone like Hayato, an unmated single mother who’s literally good for nothing. But maybe Hayato has been wrong. Despite his deceiving appearance, he now holds Tsutomu like he feels protective over him, cradling him, and even talking to him. And – kissing his chubby baby hands that won’t stop grabbing his face.

Tsutomu laughs at that, toothless mouth wide open while giggling. Hayato’s heart is aching at the sight. He wants to take his baby and protect this laugh forever and keep it close to his heart.

He wants to reach out and ask Ushijima to give him Tsutomu back, when the Alpha’s expression softens visibly, and a small smile forms on his lips.

It pierces right through Hayato’s heart.

“Baaaa baaa!” Tsutomu makes, followed by gurgling noises that only deepen the smile on Ushijima’s face. He rocks the pup lightly, mustering the tiny face.

“He is very energetic,” the Alpha mumbles. When he looks up to Hayato, lips still tugged up in a smile, Hayato feels like fainting.

His knees suddenly feel too weak to hold him upright, so he tries to hold onto a nearby chair as unsuspiciously as possible. It’s not necessarily the first time that he thinks Ushijima is, in his own, rough way, utterly attractive, but definitely the most overwhelming one.

“Yeah,” Hayato croaks. “He’s a sunshine.”

“I agree.”

“Uh – about … about yesterday. The … I mean, it wasn’t my intention to hurt you, Ushijima. I was … I thought you were someone else when I woke up from that nightmare.”

Suddenly, the tall Alpha freezes, smile on his face vanishing as if it has never been present in the first place.

“There is no need to apologise,” he answers, furrowing his brows. “Eita told me where I behaved wrong. I should not have tried to fixate you on the floor in a moment of great fear. It was my fault. I wanted to beg your pardon, Hayato.”

“O-oh. Oh!” Hayato blinks rapidly at him. Despite knowing better, he can’t help but blush horribly. Ushijima seems to be concerned about him. Even thinking something like this feels weird.

“No! It’s fine, really! It was my fault! It won’t happen again, be assured, Ushijima!”

“Wakatoshi,” the Alpha replies. “You may call me Wakatoshi, since your presence here if of a more long-lasting nature.”

The blush on Hayato’s face only deepens at that. He clears his throat, steps cautiously closer to the Alpha and reaches for his pup. Ushijima … no, _Wakatoshi_ hands him Tsutomu reluctantly, as if holding the pup had really brought him joy.

Hayato wants to open his mouth and ask, _Is my stay really of a long-lasting nature?_ , but instead, he just smiles faintly.

“Thank you, Wakatoshi. He really calmed down. I think he likes being held by you.”

The Alpha hesitates before nodding.

“I can hold him whenever you get tired. It is fine by me.”

Before Hayato can answer, Eita steps through the door, carrying Kenjirou on his arms and yawning as if he just fell out of bed, which … he probably did, judging from his appearance.

“Morning,” he croaks, and then, he stops at the sight of Hayato and Wakatoshi staying close to each other, Tsutomu between them in Hayato’s arms, still babbling cheerily.

Hayato turns around, face flushed red, and stammers: “G-good morning, Eita! Breakfast is almost done, uhm, would you like a coffee? Wait a sec …”

He moves to put Tsutomu back into the Moses basket, but Wakatoshi taps his shoulder lightly, making him jump. When Hayato looks at him, Wakatoshi holds his hands out without saying a word, but looking at the pup. So, Hayato puts him back into the Alpha’s arm.

His baby enjoys being held by Wakatoshi way too much, judging from the happy sounds he makes.

Hayato forces himself to not think about this any further.

He sets the empty basket down to the floor, and, while Eita sits down onto a chair, staring at Wakatoshi with an expression on his face that only can be read as pure shock, Hayato hurries to set the table. Then, he prepares tea, and a cup of coffee for Eita and himself, and a bottle of baby milk for Kenjirou.

Despite only being a guest at this house for a short time now – he guesses it might be a week, but he isn’t sure – he finds that the routines of each day give him something to hold onto. And with every passing day on which someone says: _Good morning, Hayato_ , or _Good night, see you tomorrow,_ he feels his anxiety ease up, feeling more and more at home here.

“How are you?” Eita asks once Hayato sits down beside him.

“I … feel OK. Thank you for helping me yesterday, really. And sorry for keeping you awake.”

“It’s fine, don’t worry.” Eita smiles at him, face obviously tired, but he doesn’t seem too unhappy about it. He lifts Kenjirou up, nuzzling his nose into the pup’s tummy and coos at him: “I bet we can make a nap happen sometime after lunch, right, Kenji? Yes, we will be _sooo_ tired, you and I, and we will have a great nap time and you will not start to fuss after five minutes, right? My baby boy can sleep properly, I know it!”

Hayato can’t help but chuckle at this.

With his arms empty – Tsutomu and Wakatoshi are having a moment, talking to each other, and it takes Hayato everything he has in him to not melt at the earnestness with which the Alpha replies to the infant’s gurgling and babbling – he soon finishes preparing breakfast.

One by one, the rest of the household arrives, with Satori and Taichi being the last ones. It’s just then that Hayato realises no one is really prepared for going out, except for Wakatoshi and Reon, and even they would normally already have left to fulfil some of their duties.

A glance to the calendar tells him that it is indeed Sunday.

This house has only been his home merely for a week. Right.

Even thinking this feels weird.

Thinking that he needs to leave and find a way to live his life on his own feels even weirder.

During breakfast, he barely has any appetite, so he just nibbles on a piece of egg for some time, before Tsutomu, still in Wakatoshi’s arms, starts whining. By now, Hayato knows how to read the baby properly, and he knows what this kind of wail means – Tsutomu is hungry.

The distraction comes in handy for him, because Hayato can’t stop his intrusive thoughts. Maybe it’s because he slept so little, maybe it’s because of his nightmare, but the thoughts keep haunting him.

He should keep going, moving on, not settle down here with these people who actually are strangers.

When he sits down at the table again, taking his pup from Wakatoshi and feeding him, he feels Eita’s gaze on himself.

“Are you really OK, Hayato?”

He opens his mouth, not sure what to say. Ultimately, he blurts out: “I should leave soon!!”

Suddenly, everyone at the table goes silent, except for Kenjirou, who keeps babbling and playing with a teether ring on Eita’s lap.

“What?” Jin asks, dumbfounded.

Reon shakes his head, while Satori shoots his mate a questioning look.

“What the _fuck_ ,” Eita says, obviously forgetting that kids are present. “Why would you leave?! I thought you … I mean, no one really asked directly if you wanted to stay, but I was sure you felt at home with us? Why on earth would you _leave_? And where to?!”

Everyone around the table is looking at him, and Hayato feels his cheeks getting warm. Unknowingly, he presses Tsutomu closer to himself who’s still sucking on the bottle, thankfully unaware of the tension around him.

“I … I will figure something out,” Hayato weakly replies. “I’ve been living here for way too long and you gave me so much. I can’t even pay you back. I didn’t do anything to deserve your kindness.”

Before Eita can start yelling at him, Reon pipes in: “Hayato, you already gave us so much back. Did you really not realise this?”

The Alpha exchanges glances with the others at the table before fixating on Hayato again.

“Apart from you single-handedly managing the chores around the house for the whole week without ever asking for help … and apart from taking care of the kids when Eita needed some sleep – you brought us a lot of happiness. Tsutomu, too. It’s a pleasure having you two around.”

“I agree,” Jin says calmly, a stern expression on his face. “It’s very nice talking to you. And your cooking skills are amazing.”

Satori snickers at that.

“Of course, you would focus on the food. But Hayato-kun, they’re right. I think the one who cherishes you being here the most is Eita-kun. He has been the only Omega around for the past five years. You should consider staying here. And becoming a part of our pack.”

“Finally,” Eita breathes dramatically. “Finally, someone said it. Like, Hayato, I swear to the fucking Gods. You can’t possibly believe you don’t belong here, right? When I said you’re God-sent, I meant it. Please don’t make any rushed decisions just because you feel bad about not paying rent. You’re working here as hard as Wakatoshi and Reon on the fields, or as Satori and Jin in the farm’s store.”

“Or as Eita does with the pups and the chores,” Reon agrees.

Hayato can’t help it, his eyes start burning at all their kind words. Just to focus on something else, he puts the now empty bottle aside and props Tsutomu against his shoulder to burp him.

“But … I can’t stay with you … what if I put you in danger?” Hayato chews on his lips, gaze cast downwards.

Eita scoots closer to put a hand on the trembling Omega’s shoulder.

“But why would you? There’s nothing dangerous about you.”

Hayato opens his mouth just to close it again. He can’t say it. He doesn’t know where to start, or what to say. So, when Tsutomu finally burps, he gladly lets himself be distracted. He puts the pup down, kisses his head and turns him so he can face Kenjirou sitting in Eita’s lap. As usual, Kenjirou pretends that Tsutomu doesn’t exist while Tsutomu couldn’t be more excited, grabbing the other pup’s teether and drooling on one of the other chewing toys hanging down from the ring.

Hayato smiles lopsidedly at the infants before taking a deep breath.

“I just … I just feel like me being here could harm your pack … like … I already stayed for too long –“

He only realises he’s crying when a tear falls down onto his pup’s head. The baby doesn’t even flinch, too occupied with munching on Kenjirou’s toy.

Eita gasps and comes closer, trying to hug him without crushing their pups between them. He wraps his free arm around Hayato’s shoulders and lets him bury his face into the crook of Eita’s neck.

“Just _what_ happened to you?” he mumbles, stroking Hayato’s back carefully.

It takes only a few moments for the others to get up and come closer. One by one, with Wakatoshi being the first, they wrap their arms around them.

Hayato gasps when he feels strong arms carefully wrapping themselves around his waist and his pup, and a broad chest against his back. He smells the pack Alpha before he hears the low rumble of comfort that vibrates through his ribcage, making Hayato and even Eita vibrate in their seats.

On his shoulder, there’s a feathery touch of silent comfort. Jin’s light scent mixes with theirs in such an unobtrusive way, while Satori, the next one to put his arms around them, feels like a cheery bubble that engulfs them. His scent, tangy but also kind of light, like citrus or bergamot, feels like the soft touch of the summer sun. The last one to accompany them is Reon, as sweet and kind and gentle as always, snaking a hand between all of them and putting it over Hayato’s, which is resting on his pup’s stomach.

All their scents mix up and surround him like it’s always been there, like a favourite comforter or a plush that never fails to spend solace. But the most prominent one is Wakatoshi’s, his body pressed flush against Hayato’s, spending warmth and making him feel safe.

As the pack’s leader, it’s his duty to take care of the pack members, so he takes care of Hayato as if he belonged to them.

While Hayato sobs violently, trying to grasp onto them as much as he can, Wakatoshi suddenly nuzzles his nose into Hayato’s neck.

The Omega still at this, eyes growing wide, heart skipping a few beats.

Wakatoshi’s touch and his breath ghost over Hayato’s scent gland just before Wakatoshi starts scenting him lightly.

Without wanting it, or having any coherent thought, Hayato feels the tenseness in his body easing up. He lets it happen, though.

In the middle of their snuggle pile, Tsutomu keeps making gurgling noises, while Kenjirou whines indignantly. Eita cradles his pup a little before pulling away from Hayato slightly so he can be face to face with him.

“What happened to you, Hayato?” He asks again, voice low and understanding. “You can trust us … I promise.”

Hayato stares at him, hesitating only for a few moments before he nods lightly. He movement makes him almost hyperaware of the warm body that still presses against him from behind. But then again … it feels so right. So, he melts a little into the touch, allowing himself to feel everyone of them, even little Taichi who managed to find his way into the pile and put his head an Hayato’s leg to rub his cheek against it.

Hayato chooses his next words carefully, not wanting to disturb the toddler.

“My … my village was destroyed. I … there’s no one left besides me and Tsutomu.”

Eita can’t help but gasp in shock at that. If it weren’t for the pups between them, he would hug his friend even more tightly.

Again, it’s Wakatoshi who offers solace.

He comes even closer, so that Hayato can feel his heartbeat against his back, and the low rumbling of his voice when he says: “I am sorry for your loss. It must have been hard for you. But you are here now. You are safe. We will not let anything happen to you or Tsutomu, you have my word.”

Hayato almost chokes on his sobs. His mind is racing, but the thoughts are so blurry. He feels overheated and not warm enough at the same time, but then again, he feels … _whole_. It’s a weird feeling. The racing of the blood through his veins doesn’t help one bit, either.

He sniffles, and when Wakatoshi nudges his scent gland with his nose again, something in Hayato just … snaps.

His breath hitches, his eyes glaze over, and then he tilts his head in a gesture that basically _screams_ submission.

“Yes … Alpha,” he whispers hoarsely.

He doesn’t see how Eita’s eyes widen, or how Reon’s Adam’s apple bobs up and down in a nervous manner. Even Satori scrunches his brow. And all of them see how Wakatoshi’s pupils blow wide at these words, how he bares his teeth and leans down over Hayato’s scent gland.

Eita wants to scream and push the Alpha away, fearing he might do something stupid. He doesn’t even understand what’s happening, but he can’t move, his limbs as heavy as lead weighs, and he can’t do anything but stare wide-eyed as Wakatoshi puts his mouth over Hayato’s scent gland.

There’s a shift in the atmosphere.

Suddenly, the air feels heavy and a bit tense. Even Eita feels his face heat up at the display of dominance in front of him, and the way Hayato submits completely to Wakatoshi.

But the Alpha doesn’t bite him. Instead, he sucks on the Omega’s scent gland, and Eita can see his tongue darting out, licking over it tentatively. He almost chokes on his spit, a hot feeling welling up in his stomach.

Then, he smells it – Hayato’s scent, that is usually a little bit more on the spicy side, like dried stinging nettles and meadow daisies brewed up with water and honey, turns into something almost overwhelmingly sweet. It’s a thick scent, a heavy one – and arousing.

Eita is the first to realise it. His heart skips a beat.

“Wakatoshi,” he says sharply.

The Alpha snaps out of his haze, pulling away, blinking rapidly. His breathing is ragged, and, for his standards, his cheeks look flushed.

“Get out of here,” Eita orders. “Wakatoshi. You need to stay calm. Reon, you too get out. Take Taichi with you.”

Satori throws a quick glance at their pack leader before grabbing his shoulder.

“C’mon, Wakatoshi-kun. It’s fine, don’t breathe in too deeply.”

He tugs at his shoulder until the Alpha, slowly coming back to his senses, loosens his grip on Hayato. He gets up and stumbles after Satori. Reon, trying to breathe as shallowly as possible, plucks Taichi from Hayato’s leg, mumbling sweet words of comfort for the toddler who doesn’t know what’s going on and is scared at the adult’s weird behaviour.

Once they’re gone, Eita shakes Hayato’s shoulder lightly. Tsutomu complains loudly at the movement, confused at why all the warmth and the mix of scent is gone. Eita doesn’t have the mind to ask himself why Kenjirou didn’t wail for a single second while being in the cuddle pile, he just tugs him closer to his chest while trying to get Hayato out of his daze as gently as possible.

“Hayato,” he says calmly. “It’s fine. Take a deep breath. You’re not going into heat, are you? It’s just Wakatoshi’s overwhelming scent, OK? It’s fine. You’re fine …”

Belatedly, Hayato jerks up, blinking rapidly and trying to focus his gaze on Eita.

“Hey, it’s OK, it’s OK …” Eita soothes him, stroking his upper arm comfortingly.

He still can’t wrap his head around what just happened. It was all too much, happened too fast, in a way too short span of time. Hayato’s story, and then … Wakatoshi’s weird behaviour.

Despite growing up with Wakatoshi, Eita has never really seen him with an Omega by his side. Reacting to someone so heavily as with Hayato just now is completely unusual for their pack leader.

“Eita …” Hayato gasps. His face is flushed. Instinctively, he pulls his squirming pup closer to himself.

“Breathe, Hayato. Do you need a glass of water?”

“I … I feel like I’m burning up …”

Eita chuckles uneasily.

“Yeah, I bet.” _No wonder_ , he thinks, _with Wakatoshi stimulating your scent gland like this, like you’re mates or something_. “Have you gone into heat after giving birth to Tsutomu already? Or is it still due?”

Hayato tries to catch his breath, shaking his head while shrugging and kind of nodding at the same time.

“I … I … no, it’s still due …”

Eita bites his lip. He gets up and fetches a glass of water for his friend.

He didn’t really think about this before, but now, with Hayato’s thick scent still lingering in the kitchen, he realises how dangerous this could be. Not for the pack, but … for Hayato. After all, there are two unmated Alphas in their pack.

Reon has been relatively calm, but Wakatoshi …

He behaved in a strange way.

Eita is just thankful that everyone respects Wakatoshi as their pack’s Alpha, and neither Satori nor Reon would ever challenge him for this position. But despite Reon staying composed, it could as well be that the two Alphas start fighting over Hayato in the future.

Even though he is not quite the typical Omega, to Eita, he would be the perfect mate. Strong, able to give birth to healthy pups, willing to get work done. Also, in an unconventional way, attractive and sweet, and vulnerable.

Speaking of vulnerable –

Eita watches Hayato downing that glass of water and taking a deep breath.

“I’m sorry,” he says. “I don’t know what just happened. This was … uh … I really don’t know.”

“It’s not your fault,” Eita reassures. “Wakatoshi kind of lost it. I will talk to him later. Please … forgive him, he’s not really used to unmated Omegas I guess.”

Hayato takes an unsteady breath.

“Hah, I … it’s fine. Nothing happened. It was just … weird. I’m sorry for causing so much trouble so early in the morning.”

“Don’t sweat it,” Eita says. “Just … thank you for opening up to us.” He chews on hip lip, unsure of what to say. “I know words can’t ever be enough to make up for such a loss, but … I’m sorry, Hayato, so sorry for your loss. But I’m glad you and Tsutomu made it out alive.”

Hayato looks at him, dark eyes unsure.

“It’s … not my doing. Someone helped me getting out of the village. He rescued me and made sure I wasn’t being followed.”

Eita can’t help but clap a hand over his mouth and look at him with wide eyes.

“Tsutomu’s father? Is he …?”

Hayato swallows thickly, before shrugging.

“He … he died, I guess. When I ran off with Tsutomu, the pack that had attacked my village started to set the houses and everything on fire. I didn’t turn around. I wanted to keep Tsutomu safe …”

Eita can’t help but close the distance between them again. He still smells the thick, unusual scent on Hayato, but it gets less intense with every second. So, at least it’s not his real heat kicking in right now.

“Hayato, you did so great,” he says, voice low, proud but also full of pain. “You saved your pup. Any mother would’ve done the same. You’re so strong …”

“I’m not,” Hayato chokes, “I’m really not Eita. It’s not …”

“Shhhh,” his friend hushes, stroking his back. “Stop putting yourself down. You did what you had to do. I’m glad you’re alive … and I don’t want you to leave. So, please, please, please … stay with us.”

Despite having seen how the Omega has submitted to their pack’s Alpha, he wanted to hear it out of Hayato’s mouth in a clear head. He needed to hear it. He is already too attached to his new friend, admiring him as well as wanting to protect him. And he is so young …

“I … I will stay with you if that’s OK,” Hayato whispers, sniffling silently. “But only if I can make myself useful. I don’t want to be a burden …”

Eita feels like a stone is falling from his chest. He breathes out harshly and presses his nose into the crook of Hayato’s neck for a second. Then, he releases the Omega out of his grip and sits back.

“I fucking swear, I’m so glad …”

Hayato wants to say something, but their pups choose that exact moment to disrupt the peace.

Tsutomu, who still had been drooling on Kenjirou’s toy, suddenly starts wailing loudly as Kenjirou tugs on his toy too forcefully, ripping it out of Tsutomu’s much more uncoordinated hands.

Eita sighs deeply, watching his pup nibbling on his toy innocently.

When the toy doesn’t magically disappear into Tsutomu’s mouth a second after he started crying, the pup starts screaming his lungs out like he never did before during the whole week.

Eita blinks in surprise, and so does Hayato.

Then, Kenjirou seems to think he can do that better than Tsutomu and starts wailing as loudly as he can, too.

Eita sighs.

“I think they just had their first fight. Unbelievable.”

He gets up, rocking Kenjirou on his hip, while Hayato tries to comfort his baby ( _and himself_ ) by snuggling and kissing the baby.

Tsutomu only slowly allows himself to get over the toy being ripped out of his hands. And Hayato, he allows him to feel … vulnerable. Hurt. Sad. But also comforted, because when he looks at Eita, the other Omega smiles at him.

Knowing he isn’t alone, no matter how weird or cobbled together the pack might be, soothes his worries, and eases the pain over the loss he suffered. He wants to say something, wants to explain, because so far, none of them knows Tsutomu isn’t really his pup. Lying to them feels wrong.

But he can’t bring himself to admit it. After all, Tsutomu is the only one who is really _his_.

He wants to protect this for a little while longer.

So, je just smiles back at Eita and says: “Thank you. For everything.”

And Eita grins at him happily.


	5. to fit in

Hayato spends the rest of the day with the kids.

He very quickly has realised that taking care of the babies and playing with Taichi calms him down – and even makes him happy.

So, after Eita is done with making sure that Hayato really wants to join their pack (“ _Are you sure? Do you really want that?_ ”), and did not just say yes because he felt pressured or something (“ _Wakatoshi was so rude, did you just say yes because he made you submit to him? It’s OK to say no! But … please don’t say no! But_ …”), Hayato takes the kids into the living room and keeps himself occupied with them, so that Eita can get a few more hours of sleep, and the others can do whatever they need to do on a Sunday.

Tsutomu and Kenjirou soon also fall asleep again, lying beside each other on Tsutomu’s makeshift bed, with Kenjirou clutching onto Tsutomu’s hand as if it were a lifeline.

Hayato watches them, playing house with Taichi and his doll Nana absentmindedly until the toddler also starts yawning. Seems like either he has kept everyone awake at night with his screams, or Sunday was generally a lazy day in this household.

He lets Taichi snuggle closer to his chest, leaning against the sofa, and soon, he hears the kid’s soft snoring.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t help him with falling asleep.

He softly caresses Taichi’s hair while mustering the other two, and his thoughts won’t stop running wild in his head.

Is it really OK for him to stay?

Eita had almost yelled at him when he asked him.

But how can he know? He lived with them for a week now, and he felt like he got to know them quite well, but after all, from what he had gathered, they had been together for years, leaving a much bigger pack that disapproved of them for one reason or another. The farm still is on their homeland, but far away from their birth pack, and very secluded.

Eita, Satori, Reon and Wakatoshi had even grown up together.

Jin had entered their pack a little later, but still.

Hayato felt out of place, even though no one had told him to leave.

Also, he can’t help but wonder – how will his life evolve from here on? Everything has changed.

He now is a single mother with a small pup. Everything he had been doing before – almost finishing high school, if it hadn’t been for the … incident …, helping out in the villages biggest restaurant to earn some money on his own, trying to figure out what to do with his life – all of this means nothing now.

He doesn’t have the luxury to waste any time trying to search for a job that might make him happy. Or trying to find an Alpha who would be willing to court someone like him. It’s not important anymore.

He must work, earn money to buy food and whatever Tsutomu and he might need to survive, and he must take care of his pup. But how to do that, he doesn’t know.

If he stays with them, he still wants to be independent. He wants to be able to survive on his own with his baby. He’s told Eita, who probably understands him more than anyone else, having been stuck at home to take care of the pups for over half a year now, unable to continue doing the work he had done before.

If he’s honest with himself … Hayato wants to stay. But he feels like he doesn’t deserve their kindness. He has been nothing more than a nuisance, an additional mouth to feed-

“Hayato?”

The voice startles him, but Hayato is composed enough to not wake up Taichi by screaming loudly.

He turns his head a little, seeing Reon in the doorway, whose gaze travels over the chaos in the room – his messy futon, the babies’ bed, the cushions lying around and toys everywhere, and then to Hayato with Taichi in his arms.

Instead of getting annoyed or angry at the mess, the Alpha smiles kindly at him.

“Can I come in?” He whispers.

“Of course,” Hayato answers, suddenly feeling shy and a bit embarrassed. He could at least have cleaned up a little.

Reon tiptoes over scattered toys and carefully sits down beside him. In his hands, he’s holding a stack of clothes, mostly woollen sweaters.

“I searched through my closet and found some more clothes I haven’t worn in an eternity. I thought maybe you would want to have them.”

He puts them down in front of him, but he doesn’t make a move to show Hayato what he has brought with him. Instead, he looks at him again, dark eyes warm, a soft expression on his face.

“Taichi seems to like you. That’s rare. He’s such a shy kid, normally it takes weeks for him to get used to unknown adults.”

“Oh,” Hayato says. He blinks at Reon, and then at the kid in his arms who has started sucking on his own thumb, drooling on Hayato’s shirt.

“I didn’t know,” the Omega answers slowly. “I knew he had been scared at first, but … he’s such a sweetheart. We played house a while ago, and he fed his doll a bottle in such a gentle way. And he’s always so sweet towards the babies …”

Reon chuckles, and Hayato can’t help but blushing. He knows he’s babbling nonsense, but for one reason or another, he feels uneasy in the Alpha’s company now.

Is it because he has witnessed him submitting to Wakatoshi earlier that day? Or because Hayato is, by now, sure his heat must be around the corner, because he feels more emotional than usual, a little overheated, and he feels … a weird longing in his chest he doesn’t have a name for.

But yes, somehow having the Alpha sitting so close to him makes him feel nervous.

“It’s funny, isn’t it?” Reon says. “Eita and Satori are such a loud and boisterous pair. I can see how Kenjirou fits into this combination. But Taichi really seems too calm to be their kid.”

Hayato grins.

“OK, true.”

They sit in silence for a while, watching the pups, and slowly but surely, Hayato feels himself getting sleepy, too. Reon moves a little, his shoulder bumps into Hayato’s and startles him awake again.

“I will take care of the cooking today,” he says. “You need to take care of yourself now. Especially when dealing with such a bunch of rascals.”

“I’m fine,” Hayato mumbles, brushing his nose against Taichi’s soft copper hair.

Reon hums.

“Don’t worry, please. You’re not a burden. I meant it when I said you brought us a lot of joy. Also, I hope you will stay with us. I know you said … just wanted … sure … -yato?”

Hayato dozes off, his head plopping against Reon’s broad shoulder.

Finally, his thoughts quiet down and stop screaming at him.

He doesn’t notice how Reon pries Taichi out of his arms, and how he picks up Hayato to put him onto his futon. He doesn’t even realise how the Alpha puts Taichi back onto Hayato’s chest.

Hayato only embraces the kid, snuggling it closer to himself, and falls into a deep, dreamless sleep.

“You almost bit him.”

“Yes.”

“And made him go into preheat.”

“Yes.”

“Well, then,” Eita says through gritted teeth, “would you care explaining _why_ you deemed that appropriate?”

Wakatoshi furrows his brows.

“I … do not know.”

“You don’t know?! What do you mean, _you don’t know_?!”

“I was … I felt like I was … I just …” The Alpha stops, incapable of finding the right words. “I am sorry.”

“I bet you scared him,” Eita sighs. He runs his hands through his hair, anger dissolving into nothing. He’s known Wakatoshi all his life – he knows how dense he can be, and that he didn’t mean any harm by acting the way he did.

“Well, once he felt a little more level-headed, I asked him again if he wanted to join our pack. He said yes, actually. But he wants to work. Earn some money. He said he doesn’t want to be a burden.”

Wakatoshi frowns again, nodding, but then he halts.

“How does he plan on working with such a small pup in his care?”

The silence between them stretches.

Eita chews on his lip nervously. He knows his friend, his packmate, his pack leader so well. He also knows how traditional his upbringing had been, and how hard adapting to different beliefs, and different forms of being together had been for him. Also, Eita is quite aware of how Wakatoshi, despite not saying a single word about it, disapproves of Hayato being a single mother.

Maybe, if it hadn’t been for Tsutomu, Wakatoshi would have already realised that he is at least sexually interested in their newest pack’s addition. But as it is, he doesn’t even think about how his body reacts to the Omega.

With a pack leader as traditional as Wakatoshi, Eita almost feels bad for what he is about to say. But … he has to. For his own good, and for Hayato’s.

“Yeah, that’s a problem,” he agrees slowly. “I wrecked my head about that, but I think I might have an … idea. Although I feel a little bad about it. Fact is, we can’t leave the pups at home unsupervised, or without anyone to take care of them. They’re too young to be alone. But I think it doesn’t make sense for the both of us to stay here and keep an eye on them. I thought … well, maybe Hayato could … you know, stay at home. Take care of the kids. Do the chores. That’s more than enough work in my opinion. And I could go back to working at the store. You wouldn’t have to pay that Inarizaki kid anymore who took my place when I gave birth to Kenjirou. I think it would be a win-win.”

The frown on Wakatoshi’s forehead only deepens, and he looks at him sceptically.

“Do you think he would want that? And would it not be hard for you to be separated from your pups?”

“Well …” Eita hums. “Hayato’s definitely not ready to leave Tsutomu for more than a short period of time. And as for me, I … I miss work. I miss being outside, of doing something other than changing dirty nappies and feeding the kids. I know I probably shouldn’t feel like this, but you know it – I never wanted to be a mother in the first place and … adapting to it is hard. So, please … please think about it.”

“Why do you phrase it like this?” Wakatoshi asks, frown and confusion prominent on his face. “They are not my pups. Whatever you choose to do is your decision to make, and yours only.”

“You’re the pack leader,” Eita reminds him, sighing. “Also, this is your house. I don’t know about you, but I trust Hayato with my life, and I wouldn’t be scared of leaving him here alone with the pups during the day. But the final decision is yours. If you say you think it’s too risky, or you don’t trust him, then the idea is off the table.”

Wakatoshi thinks about this for a while before replying.

“I think there is no harm to it. If you are fine with leaving your pups for such a long time, then I do not see why this would be a problem. What does Hayato think about it?”

Eita blinks at him in surprise, an itchy feeling in his guts.

He doesn’t voice out his anger at the Alpha’s words. Why would he _not_ be alright with leaving his pups with another packmate for some hours? Eita tries his best to ignore this. Of course, Wakatoshi wouldn’t understand. For him, an Omega is someone who has no greater joy in life than to bear pups and take care of them. And maybe that’s what an Omega’s life goals should be. Eita sees it in Hayato’s eyes. He knows the younger Omega feels the most at peace when he’s surrounded by the kids.

Eita refuses to feel bad about him not feeling the same way about his children.

He loves them, he surely does. And yes, Satori and he had tried for another pup, and then Kenjirou was conceived. But Eita also thinks he’s an independent human being. He’s whole by himself. He doesn’t need a mate or pups (though he _does_ have them) to feel like he’s complete.

Maybe he’s a bad Omega and mother. Maybe not.

Thing is … Hayato could be the solution. He could help him feeling free again and also, being happy to come back home to his family in the evenings. If he agrees, that is.

“I’m fine with it,” Eita says. “I know Hayato feels the happiest when he’s taking care of the kids. I trust him. He would never hurt them. He’d keep them from harm. I just know.”

“Did you talk to him?”

“I … will. I wanted to know what you think about it, first.”

“Well, then.”

Eita chews on his lip, eyeing the Alpha.

“He needs a room.”

“A room?”

“For himself. He can’t sleep in the living room forever. He might want some privacy. I thought we could clean out the unused office of yours. It’s close to the kitchen, the living room and Taichi’s bedroom. That would be the best, I think.”

“Mh. It is fine with me. As you said. We don’t need it.”

“Yeah. And I can sort through Taichi’s baby stuff. There should be a little more clothing and a few items Hayato might find useful for Tsutomu.”

Again, silence spreads between them. Eita fumbles with his fingers, before clasping his hands.

“Say, Wakatoshi … do you like him?”

The Alpha blinks confusedly.

“Do I like whom?”

“Hayato. It … uhm … the way you scented him … and held him … it felt very intimate. It was as if … I don’t know.”

Wakatoshi scowls – if Eita didn’t know that this was his default expression, he would’ve been worried – before replying: “He is a part of our pack. I do consider him family now. Was it wrong of me to be close to him?”

“Toshi …” Eita mumbles. “He’s an unmated Omega. He will go in heat eventually. Don’t you think that … well … he’s attractive? Maybe … a potential mate?”

The Alpha scoffs before getting up as if he decided the conversation was over.

“He has a pup. I think he has more important things to care about than finding a mate, now that he already has a family to take care of.”

“Don’t judge him,” Eita begs. “I bet it’s not his fault. You know how cruel this world can be … He’s not reckless. Or easy to get, for that matter. And even if he were, that wouldn’t make him any less amazing and valuable, and you know that.”

“Very well.”

With that, the Alpha turns around and leaves the kitchen.

Eita stays back, staring at the door that Wakatoshi closes behind himself, thoughts running wild in his mind.

There’s this tingling feeling in his stomach that tells him things will change from here on. For better or worse he doesn’t know, though.

“Hayato?”

“Yeah,” the Omega huffs. “Here, on the floor.”

He’s lying flat on his back on the living room floor, Taichi sprawled on top of his lap, Kenjirou babbling and making noises while having tummy time on Hayato’s, well, tummy, and Tsutomu who is lying in his arm pit, munching on a plush bunny with a very determined expression on his face.

Eita walks in, blinking at him.

It’s evening now.

After a long nap and sleeping through lunch, Hayato looks a little better than in the morning.

Snickering, Eita crouches down beside him, poking Kenjirou’s cheek. The pup squeals at that and tries to grab the finger. Eita strokes his chubby cheek instead, a soft expression on his face.

“Looks like you have a lot of fun. What are you doing there, Tai-chan?”

The toddler who was rolling around on Hayato’s thighs and clinging onto his too-big sweatpants holds still and shows his mama the doll he is holding.

“We play earthquake! It’s shake and I take care of Nana!”

He rolls around a little more and Hayato moves his legs shallowly with a groan.

“If you were wondering,” he huffs, “ _I’m_ doing a full body workout. Working on my abs and these cannons here.” He tries moving the arm which Tsutomu occupies, but it only twitches a little.

“I see,” Eita grins. He plops down next to him, holding his hands out for Tsutomu who is gifting him a toothless smile. “Can I take him?”

“Yeah, yeah, go ahead. I’m not sure if there’s any blood circulation left in my hand.”

With a snort, Eita picks the baby up who squeals in delight. A tiny hand clings onto Eita’s shirt while Tsutomu’s head plops against his chest for support. He cradles the pup and holds it close to himself, burying a nose in the raven hair on his head. He smells comforting, like baby and Hayato and like there isn’t a single worry in this world.

“How are you?” Eita asks after kissing the fuzzy hair.

Moving his hand to get the blood flow back to normal, Hayato groans.

“Fine. Amazing. Perfect. My shirt is wet because Kenchi drools like a world champion. Taichi and I made a pillow fort earlier. You OK though? You look like there’s something on your mind.”

“Course I’m fine. I was just … thinking stuffs.”

“And what _stuffs_ might that- _oooof_ Taichi please- _UGH_ don’t kick me there, it hurts!”

“Taichi!” Eita scolds his pup. The toddler stills, staring at him with big eyes. “You cannot kick him between his legs, it’s very sensitive and it hurts!”

“I hurt mummy’s peepee?”

“Mummy’s …? Uh, yes. Yes, that. Be careful, OK?”

Eita blinks at his kid and then at Hayato, who looks as baffled as his friend.

“Did Hayato allow you to call him mummy, Tai-chan?”

Again, the toddler looks at them, confused and suddenly very shy.

“Can I not? Mama calls him mummy sometimes …”

“It’s fine, baby,” Hayato reassures him. He lifts his arm and pats Taichi’s head awkwardly. “You can call me mummy. It makes me very happy.”

At that, the kid beams at him before plunging down on Hayato’s legs again and wobbling around, making sounds as if the house were about to break down.

Eita can’t help but smile at that. He looks at Hayato’s face, expression soft despite the turmoil the kid’s creating. He wraps his free hands around Kenjirou now, who only complains a little before continuing to chew on Hayato’s shirt – one of Reon’s woollen sweaters, Eita now realises.

 _We need to buy him his own clothes_ , he thinks. _Clothes_ , _and furniture. He needs to have something for himself_.

“I was thinking about our conversation earlier. About how you said you wanted to work and earn your own money.”

Hayato lifts his gaze from Kenjirou to Eita.

“Oh! Yeah. Yeah, that. And …?”

“I’ve talked to Wakatoshi, too. To be frank, I don’t think you’ll be able to leave Tsutomu alone just now. You know, like, mentally. He’s really small.”

Hayato deflates a little at that, pouting, but shrugging as much as his position lets him.

“I mean … I guess. I don’t know.”

“I was thinking that … well, it would be a waste for the both of us to stay at home and take care of the pups, right? And … maybe I’m a bad mother, but I wanna go back to work, you know. I wanna be able to leave the house without preparing the kids for an eternity, and I want to … I don’t know if that makes sense, but I would be so glad to go back to working in our store.”

Hayato musters him expectantly, nodding a little as if he knows what is about to follow.

“I was … I was thinking that maybe you’d want to stay at home … and take care of the pups. Not only Tsutomu, but also Kenjirou and Taichi. And the household. I know it’s a lot of work. And there wouldn’t be any payment. But … I don’t know. You’d work more than enough to maybe not feel bad anymore about living here.”

“Rent-free,” Hayato mutters with something like disgust in his voice. “I don’t know, Eita. Wouldn’t that be … too easy for me? I mean, I know it’s hard work. I just don’t think it would feel like I’ve done enough to earn it? Somehow?”

“Believe me,” Eita snorts. “Taking care of the laundry alone is more than enough work to do. Also, the cleaning – it’s a never-ending task, especially with Reon and Wakatoshi being caked in dirt every day. And the pups are lively and demanding, they will never give you a break, I guess. It’s hard work.”

Hayato wiggles around a little, making Taichi laugh and squeal and Kenjirou squawk loudly, but he seems to be deep in thought.

It takes a few minutes before he shifts his gaze from the ceiling to Eita again.

“Say … do you feel left out? From the outside world, I mean.”

Eita blinks in confusion before frowning.

“I know it makes me … a bad mother, but yes. I do feel left out. I feel envious of Satori, and Jin, and Wakatoshi, and Reon. They can go out every day, not caring for anyone but themselves. Do whatever they need to do, talking to others, laughing, not having two pups attached to them. I … miss it.”

“And you would go back to working with the others in the store?”

“Yeah … if you agree, I will do that.”

“Mh …”

Eita hesitates.

“Do you think I’m a bad mother?”

Hayato’s dark eyes widen in shock before he lifts his head from the floor, shaking his head.

“No! Why would you even think that?! I think it’s perfectly valid to feel that way! You’re a great mother, but you’re also your own human being, right? It’s fine to want to go back to your regular life, like … like before you gave birth to Kenjirou.”

Chewing on his lip, Eita rocks Tsutomu in his arms who starts to doze off.

“It was easier with Taichi. He’s a calm kid. I could take him to the store, and he would sleep in his basket for hours. I had to wake him up to feed him and change his nappies. Kenjirou is … more time-consuming. I love him, obviously. I love him so much. But … I also need to be on my own from time to time.”

“Yeah,” Hayato breathes. He looks at the pup on his tummy and coos at him: “You’re so small, Kenchi, yet you have such a big personality! Tsutomu already really likes you. Mummy does, too. Will you be alright with me taking care of you? I know I’m not your mama but being with me means being with Tsutomu!” He hesitates before grinning lopsidedly at Eita. “He behaves as if he doesn’t acknowledge Tsutomu’s presence but then again, I think Kenchi likes him, deep down.”

Eita snickers.

“Yeah, he’s a brat, but if he disliked being with Tsutomu, he would’ve let us know, be assured.”

Hayato grins at that, kissing the pups head.

Again, he complains, but he grabs Hayato’s face and pats it, and when the Omega kisses his head again, bending like a pretzel to reach it, he laughs before babbling loudly.

“Prince charming,” Eita wheezes.

“You said he takes after you,” Hayato teases. “I think it’s cute.”

“Now you’re being ridiculous.”

“Jus’ being honest!”

Eita scoffs fondly at him, feeling how Tsutomu falls asleep in his arms. For a split second he wishes Kenjirou was more like Tsutomu – a happy nature, seldomly getting moody, sleeping a lot. But then again … he loves his pup, just the way he is. What kind of mother is he even, thinking of his kid like that?

“I think you’re an amazing mother, Eita,” Hayato says out of nowhere.

When Eita focuses his gaze again, he finds the Omega looking at him with an earnest expression on his face. “And you’re so kind. You helped me when most other people would’ve kicked me out into the streets again. You trusted me despite not knowing me. I owe you so much.”

“You don’t owe me sh… you owe me nothing, I mean-“

“Let’s try it,” Hayato interrupts him. “I have to learn a lot. But I want to try and do my best and work hard. I will take care of the household and the pups, and you can go back to work.”

Eita doesn’t know what to say, so instead, he reaches out for Hayato’s hand, and squeezes it.

“Thank you,” he whispers.

His friend only smiles at him.


	6. touch me tenderly, for I am vulnerable

It takes Hayato some time to realise that something has changed. Ever since the scenting incident, he feels a bit off. Soon he understands that his heat really must be around the corner, and with all the new surroundings, he feels small and vulnerable and a bit more emotional than usual. So, it’s no wonder that the second he realises Wakatoshi doesn’t talk to him anymore it hurts _badly_.

Three days.

Not one, not two – no, for _three days_ , Ushijima Wakatoshi tries his best to avoid talking to Hayato, or even being alone with him in the same room. He talks over him during breakfast and dinner, avoids asking him direct questions and leaves the kitchen as soon as everyone’s finished eating.

Hayato doesn’t understand why, or what happened to make him go out of his way to avoid being alone with him, but the Alpha – despite obviously trying to be subtle in his efforts to stay out of his way – is anything but.

Hayato hates it.

Especially now that his heat is getting closer. Maybe it wouldn’t have been as bad as it feels now if it weren’t for his hormones. He unconsciously starts collecting pillows and blankets and more of Reon’s sweaters. And maybe Eita does it on purpose, but there are also more shirts of him lying around in the living room. Hayato takes them, feeling a little bad for being greedy, but also grateful.

At night, he can barely sleep without snuggling closer to Tsutomu, feeling how the baby clutches onto Hayato’s finger while the Omega himself buries his nose in Eita’s shirt and drowns in his soothing scent.

Wakatoshi avoiding him hits him harder now that he is in this state. He tries to not let it show, but he feels himself getting moody and less talkative than usual.

So … three days of silence. And it’s too much.

After dinner, Hayato chooses to get some time alone with his pup. Maybe that will help him feeling better. He closes the living room door behind himself, undresses his upper body and pulls Tsutomu close to his chest, loosely wrapping a blanket around them.

The pup, all cleaned up and well fed, latches onto his breast quickly. The sucking hurts at first –Hayato’s body feels more sensitive now – but it soon turns into a soothing pleasure. He leans against his pile of pillows and sweaters and shirts on the sofa and watches his pup sucking on his breast for nothing more than pure comfort.

“I wish I could really breast-feed you,” he tells his pup with a soft smile on his lips.

Tsutomu blinks at him with his big, dark eyes, tiny mouth moving on instinct around the soft flesh of Hayato’s breast.

The Omega chuckles and coos at him.

A sudden knock on the door makes him jump. He looks up, unsure of what to say. After all, this is the living room, and everyone is allowed to enter as they please.

After a few seconds without Hayato answering, the door is pushed open and no other than Ushijima Wakatoshi himself is stepping in.

When he sees Hayato half-naked with his pup on his chest, he stills completely.

For half an eternity, the stoic Alpha just stares at him, and Hayato feels his face heating up under the intensity of his gaze.

“Wakatoshi?” He asks after a while with the silence between them only filled by the low sounds his pup makes while sucking on his breast.

“I – I wanted to talk to you. Can I come in?”

The Alpha blinks, now tearing his gaze away from Hayato’s exposed chest to his face, and if it weren’t for the dim light, Hayato would swear Wakatoshi’s ears are tinted pink.

Hayato’s first instinct is to say _no_. To tell him to fuck off and leave him alone with his baby, because it’s his me-time, and he doesn’t want anyone to intrude. Then again, Wakatoshi hasn’t been talking to him for days and Hayato is curious as to why.

“Yeah. Come in.”

Wakatoshi nods, says, “Very well,” and steps in, closing the door behind himself.

He looks around, as if unsure where to sit, but Hayato feels a longing for proximity in his chest, so he taps the sofa beside him a little, motioning him to come over and sit beside him.

Wakatoshi nods and does as he is asked to.

He sits closer than Hayato would have assumed, his body weighing on the sofa, making it bend a little toward him, so the Omega almost plops against him.

Tsutomu seems to feel disrupted in his peaceful sucking. He let’s go of Hayato’s swollen and wet nipple to make a chain of squawking noises; eyes fixated on Wakatoshi. He reaches out for the Alpha, saying, “Baaah!” and Wakatoshi, as if unaware of the indecent closeness between them – an unmated Alpha with an also unmated, only half-clothed Omega in pre-heat – reaches a hand towards the pup.

Tsutomu grabs his index finger and seems to decide he now is at peace with the Alpha’s presence, so he latches onto Hayato’s chest again with a hard suck and the hand clutching onto Wakatoshi’s finger plops down onto the soft flesh of his breast again.

Hayato’s heart skips a few beats while the Alpha stares at the pup, or maybe his finger on Hayato’s breast, with a concentrated face, but he doesn’t say a word about it.

Hayato decides to leave it be. What does it matter? It’s not as if Wakatoshi thinks of him too highly. He probably thinks Hayato is a slut anyway.

“So,” Hayato says, clearing his throat when Tsutomu’s soft sucking noises chime in again. “You wanted to talk?”

“I – yes. I wanted … I had …”

Hayato bites his lip to suppress a smile. So, at least he knows that touching Hayato’s breast is intimate. And it _does_ affect him.

Despite the anger the Omega has felt toward the Alpha for ignoring him, knowing his nakedness, and the closeness they share affects Wakatoshi, feels … _good_.

“Yeah?”

The Alpha clears his throat, visibly searching for words. He turns his upper body a little to face him more, making it easier for Tsutomu to cling onto his finger.

“Eita has talked to me. He said … that you wanted to have an occupation. Mentioning you would like to take care of the kids and do the chores.”

Hayato blinks at him, shrugging a little. It’s not as if it has been his idea.

“Yes. That’s true.”

“He also said we should make sure you would get a room for yourself to live in, and for your pup. He suggested we should clear the unused office on this floor. Would you like that?”

Well, that’s news to him. But then again, he also knows that making the living room his permanent residence isn’t a good idea, either. He feels a weird mix of affection and guilt in his stomach, but he nods, nonetheless.

“That … would be very nice. Thank you, Wakatoshi.”

“It is Eita’s idea, not mine. Still, you are welcome.”

Hayato looks up, trying to meet Wakatoshi’s gaze, but the olive coloured eyes are unfocused, looking from Tsutomu to his finger to Hayato’s other exposed breast.

Something warm starts tingling in Hayato’s stomach. He tries to not think too much about it, but really, with him being as naked as this, and Wakatoshi being so close, he can’t help it. The smell of the Alpha surrounds him, engulfs him.

He takes a deep breath, feeling his heart flutter a little.

“Say, Wakatoshi … did you avoid me these past days?”

Finally, the Alpha looks up. Suddenly, his gaze pins Hayato’s down, staring at him, an unreadable expression on his face. The burning in Hayato’s stomach only gets hotter. He gulps, but he forces himself to not look away.

“I … I have been told my behaviour towards you was inappropriate,” the Alpha says, voice a little hoarse. He frowns and his gaze travels Hayato’s face down again, over his mouth, his neck, settling onto his major scent gland at the nape of his neck.

“I needed to think about that. I am not sure if I can see where I behaved wrong.”

“What do you mean?” Hayato asks, voice barely a whisper. He can’t look away, eyes travelling over Wakatoshi’s nose, his chin, his … lips.

Shit, this is not good. He feels the same heat bubbling up in his body as on Sunday, knowing that somehow, the Alpha makes him weak.

“When you were sad, I tried comforting you. I scented you and touched your scent gland in the process. I have been told it was inappropriate. While I do think that me losing my control for a second is something I have to apologise for, I don’t see why, as the pack leader, I should not scent you.” Wakatoshi purses his lips slightly. “You are a part of our pack. Was it wrong for me to do that?”

Hayato blinks in surprise. He bites his lip, breaking the eye contact and looking at Tsutomu, who starts to get drowsy, sucking motions getting shallower and shallower. Even his tight grip on Wakatoshi’s finger loosens up a bit.

Finally, he says: “No. I don’t think so. It … felt really nice and comforting. I’m sorry for reacting in such a weird way. I think my upcoming heat made me … I don’t know …”

Wakatoshi nods slightly. When Hayato looks up at him again, he finds the Alphas gaze is settled on his chest again.

“I think he fell asleep.”

Hayato looks down to find Tsutomu with his mouth open and eyes closed, softly breathing against the wet flesh of his breast. Hayato can’t help but smile.

“Yes, indeed. Can you pull your finger out of his grip gently? Then I can put him to bed.”

Wakatoshi hesitates before carefully retreating his finger out of Tsutomu’s hand. He stares at the pup, gaze unsteadily flickering from left to right.

With an inaudible, shaky sigh, Hayato gets up and puts the pup down onto his makeshift bed. He tucks him in carefully, and then gets up again.

His back feels tingly, his stomach hot and in turmoil.

Somehow, the Omega knows Wakatoshi is staring at him. It feels weird, intense, captivating – everything at the same time.

He takes a deep breath, eyeing the sweater he had worn before, still lying in a heap on the floor. He should cover up. Wakatoshi thinks badly enough of him. But then again … does it matter? Is he not allowed to be naked, to feel at ease with himself? Also, it’s not like his breasts were big, for that matter.

Hayato can almost feel how Wakatoshi’s gaze travels over the bare skin of his back. Heat starts pooling in his lower abdomen, but he decides to ignore it. After all, Wakatoshi has been the one to stare at his chest for a while now.

So, he takes a deep breath again, and turns around to face the Alpha.

Almost instantly, Wakatoshi’s eyes find his. He stares at him, pupils dilated, muscles in his jaw working. His hand twitches, but he doesn’t move.

Hayato slowly takes a step towards him. Then another one. And another one.

He can’t tear his gaze away from those dark olive eyes. They hold him captive, make him feel weak and his knees wobbly. He wants to open his mouth and say something, but Wakatoshi lifts his hand, holding it out for him.

He feels the same sort of magnetism he has felt when Wakatoshi nuzzled his major scent gland. His thoughts silenced to a low hum, only the need for proximity vibrating in his body, the desire to please this Alpha, to touch him.

Hayato lets it happen.

With a shaky breath, Hayato closes the distance. In an instant, he feels big hands on his lower back, pulling him even closer, and with an animalistic growl, Wakatoshi presses his face against Hayato’s breasts.

The Omega yelps in surprise, but then moans hoarsely when Wakatoshi’s mouth finds his nipple and his tongue laps at the sensitive nub as if it were the only logical thing to do.

“Wakatoshi,” Hayato breathes, heat pooling in his crotch. He only realises his pants start getting wet from the slick dripping out of his twitching hole when Wakatoshi pulls him even closer, rubbing his face against Hayato’s breasts, breathing in his scent, and then, he sucks one into his mouth.

The harsh motion makes the Omega gasp.

He can’t help but lift his hands and grab the Alpha’s hair, pressing him closer, breathing ragged and shallowly moaning.

He wants … to move closer … sit on the Alphas lap, grind against him, strip him of his clothes and fuck him, ride him, let himself be filled up and-

When he hears voices from the kitchen, Hayato lets out a shriek and pushes Wakatoshi away in shock. His head jerks towards the closed door.

“…aybe he is still …”

_Eita._

“Shit,” Hayato curses lowly. Cautiously, he looks at the Alpha, who seems even more in shock about what just happened than he is.

Swallowing thickly, Hayato hurries to grab his sweater from the floor and pulls it over his head. He thanks the Gods that Reon is so much taller than him. The fabric easily covers the small bulge in his sweatpants.

Again, he throws a glance at Wakatoshi, who now gets up, and he looks like he doesn’t even know why he acted like he just did, one hand covering his mouth.

Hayato doesn’t give himself the time to get upset about it. If he’s being honest, he also has no idea what just happened. Now he just feels dizzy, hot, and his pants are uncomfortably wet.

He approaches the door almost simultaneously with Eita, who knocks and whispers: “Hayato? Are you still awake?”

“Yeah,” he whispers back and slowly opens the door.

Eita blinks at him, taking in his dishevelled looks and his red face. He opens his mouth to speak, but that’s when Wakatoshi appears behind Hayato. He nods at Eita before pressing himself through the small space in the doorframe and leaving without a word.

Eita stares after him, gaping.

“Wait,” he says, turning to Hayato. Behind him at the table sits Satori, following the events with mild interest and a surprised grin on his lips, though he stays silent.

“Wait a second,” Eita begs again. He stares at the other Omega. “Why was Wakatoshi with you? Hayato, you smell like …” He bites his lip, and Hayato can almost see how the blush creeps up his cheeks. “Did he do something? Are you alright?”

“What?” Hayato hisses lowly, to not wake Tsutomu up by accident. “We just talked! What are you even thinking?!”

“But your scent …” Eita comes a little closer, sniffing again. He seems thrown off track by Hayato’s scent, breathe stumbling over Hayato’s skin clumsily.

“It’s just … my pre-heat and everything,” Hayato mumbles. He feels how his own cheeks heat up in embarrassment. When Eita retreats a little, Hayato takes a deep breath to clear his thoughts.

“What did you want to talk about?”

Eita still stares at him, his pupils blown wide, a deep blush on his pale face. He gulps visibly.

“Uhm, I … Well … Uh …”

“It’s about your living circumstances here,” Satori helps his mate out. When Hayato looks at him, he finds Satori’s gaze locked on himself, red eyes hooded, lips tucked up in a smile. “We thought we might re-arrange a room for you tomorrow. What do you think? Would you like to have your own bedroom?”

“Oh,” Hayato says. He gives Eita a sideway look before offering a small smile. “Yes. Wakatoshi said we might clean out the office on this floor.”

“Yes, exactly. Eita is in a hurry to give you your own space.” Satori’s grin widens a little. It seems playful, a bit mischievous and knowing. Though, what he might be hinting at, Hayato can’t even guess.

“I think he wants to make sure you stay with us. He’s taken a liking on you, Hayato-kun~”

“Satori!” Eita snaps at his mate, face beet red. He flips him off, which only makes Satori chuckle lightly.

“Love you, too, Eita-kun.”

“Anyways,” Eita grunts, looking at Hayato again. “I thought we could start cleaning the room out tomorrow. Wakatoshi organised a bed and a wardrobe for you, which Reon will bring over after work. I’m also positive that there’s lots of baby stuff you could use for Tsutomu on the attic. You know, Taichi’s old things. What do you think? Sound good?”

A well of emotion rises in his chest, tightens it, and makes it hard to breathe for a second. Hayato tries to keep his composure, though it’s so hard. Why are these people so nice to him? What did he even do to deserve their friendship, their caring attitude towards him?

He tries to open his mouth to agree but before he knows it, a sob tumbles out and his eyes start producing way more tears than appropriate.

Eita gasps and grabs him to pull him into a tight embrace.

“Hey, shhh, it’s fine, it’s alright … there’s no need to cry …”

There are footsteps on the floor, and soon, Hayato feels how Satori embraces them both, cooing softly: “Aww, Hayato-kun, what’s wrong? … Don’t cry, it makes Eita upset …”

“Satori, that’s not how you comfort people!” Eita sighs, nuzzling his nose into Hayato’s hair.

Hayato hiccups and laughs and cries at the same time. “I’m sorry! It’s just … why are you so nice to me, I don’t deserve …”

Eita shushes him insistently. “Stop it right there! I already told you, you being here brings me so much joy. You spoiled me a lot these past days, and the kids love you. _We_ love you. Let us be kind to you, too, mh?”

Hayato only sobs more at that, burying his face into the crook of Eita’s neck. The closeness, the warmth of these two people – his _packmates_! – helps him to calm down eventually. He knows it’s his pre-heat speaking out of him, but he can’t help it. He just feels horribly emotional.

“I’m sorry I’m just … so _happy_ … and grateful … and I feel _feelings_ I … I …”

Eita breathes a sigh of relief into his soft brown hair.

“So, it’s a good crying? The kind of _yes-lets-rearrange-my-room-tomorrow_ -crying?”

“Y-yes …!”

Satori snickers at that, pressing a kiss onto Eita’s temple, and then onto Hayato’s head.

“Come on, Hayato-kun, we will bring you to bed and kiss you good night, there’s lots of things to do tomorrow!”

Hayato can’t help but laugh a little. He sniffles.

“I’m not a baby!”

“Well, technically you are. You’re about five years younger than me, and three years younger than Eita. Come on, come on, little one ...”

Grinning, he pulls both omegas into the living room. Eita rolls his eyes at his mate, but he plays along, gently forcing Hayato to lay down on his futon, covering him up and lying beside him for a bit.

“That OK?” He asks when Satori takes the spot on the other side, shuffling closer.

“Yeah,” Hayato says, still sniffling and eyes still spilling tears. “I’m sorry, I’m such a cry-baby when my hormones are all over the place …”

“Shhhh, nothing to apologise for,” Eita reassures him, hugging him tightly. He starts scenting him, and Satori doesn’t stop drawing lazy circles onto Hayato’s hip with his tender fingers.

It doesn’t take long for him to get drowsy like this. And just like Tsutomu earlier, he falls asleep to the comforting proximity of his new family.


	7. messed up

The next day, Hayato feels better.

Despite their weird encounter the night before, Wakatoshi doesn’t treat him differently now – or, well, he does, but at least he talks to him and doesn’t pretend like Hayato is non-existent. His attempts at making conversation are clumsy, and he almost drops the bottle with soy sauce over their breakfast table when Hayato hands it to him, their fingers touching briefly.

But it’s alright.

Hayato can live with that.

After they’ve finished breakfast, and after cleaning up, Eita and Hayato put the pups into their safe play corner into the living room and ask Taichi to be a big boy and watch out for the babies a little. The toddler beams at the responsible task and promises he will tell them as soon as the babies start crying.

Hayato can’t help but plant hearty kisses onto the pup’s head, and Taichi giggles, kissing him back and telling him he likes how sweet “mummy” smells right now. With that, he dashes off, his doll Nana in his arms and ready to play house all by himself until the adults are done with their work.

Hayato stares after him, ready to burst into tears again.

“Gosh,” Eita sighs, opening the door to the room that will soon be Hayato’s very own bedroom. “He’s such a sweet child. I really don’t know where he got that from.”

“I …” Hayato chokes on his words. When Eita looks at him, his brown eyes are soft and a little teasing. Hayato chuckles a little. “This might be weird, but God, Eita … I already love this kid so much. He’s a sweetheart.”

Eita blinks at him, and Hayato can watch how the most adorable blush spreads on his cheeks. When he grins, the pride is obvious on his handsome features, though he doesn’t reply anything. Instead, he pushes the door open, and behind it, a big office reveals itself. There are shelves with folders, a big working desk with a chair and a thin layer of dust on the surfaces of literally everything.

Hayato gasps.

“This is such a big room! … and Wakatoshi really doesn’t use it?”

Eita scoffs.

“Never. He leaves most of the paperwork to Satori anyways. Wakatoshi is the practical type, he likes to get shit done, not to overthink about bills and everything.”

“So … we are just going to put everything into the basement?”

“Yeah. I’m sorry to make you work so hard when your heat is close. Tell me whenever you need a break, will you?”

Hayato snorts.

“I’m not sick. It’s just hormones, don’t worry.”

Eita shoots him a disbelieving glance, but he doesn’t press the issue.

After Eita and Satori helped him falling asleep last night, Hayato feels more than comfortable in his friend’s presence.

They put most of the office’s stuff into boxes, clean up the space and start to dismantle the existing furniture. They only stop occasionally so that Eita can touch Hayato here and there, scenting him, snuggling him closer, because, if anyone knows how he feels right now, it must be Eita, right?

And Hayato _craves_ physical contact right now.

Two hours later, they feed the babies again, change their nappies and play with Taichi a little before continuing.

Hayato gets tired more easily, though he tries to not let it show. Yet Eita seems to notice it, nonetheless.

“Take it easy, Hayato. There’s no rush,” he tells him while kneeling under the working desk to unscrew the bolts. “We’re almost done. I will prepare dinner, alright?”

“No need to,” Hayato pants as he puts down another box filled with papers and whatnot. “I’m fine. Just a little breathless.”

“Uh-hu,” Eita snorts.

Hayato sticks out his tongue at Eita, though the other can’t see it. Then, he grabs another heavy box and lifts it up.

“When is _your_ next heat due? If I may ask,” Hayato says, carrying the box into the hallway.

Eita, still working on dismantling the work desk, grunts.

“I don’t get heats anymore. I started taking a certain form of birth control after Kenjirou’s birth … My doc gives me injections with Alpha hormones every three months, suppressing my heats and everything.”

Hayato stares at him wide-eyed when he enters the room again.

“Isn’t this risky? You might not be able to conceive a child again.”

Eita snorts.

“That’s the point,” he says. “I don’t want to ever conceive a child again. I think I’m not born to be a mother and two kids are more than enough for me. It’s fine. And I certainly don’t miss going into heat.”

Hayato grimaces at that.

“OK, that I can understand.”

Eita laughs and continues to dismantle the table. It doesn’t take long for them to clear out the room completely after that. They make an effort to scrub the floor and clean the windows, even though it’s not even that dirty.

They spend the rest of the afternoon like this. After having a quick lunch, taking care of the pups and putting them down for a nap, they take Taichi up into the attic to sort through some old baby stuff. Hayato is surprised by what they uncover, and even Eita blinks at some items like he’s forgotten they ever had them.

There’s a baby cradle in which Tsutomu should fit perfectly now. They also find little jumpers, a few stuffed animals, socks, shoes, and whatnot.

After an hour and a half, they selected some stuff that Hayato might find useful for Tsutomu and brought them downstairs to clean it. Taichi is an endless source of energy, being excited by all the old things and making them laugh all the time.

Then, they pick up their babies from the living room and start preparing dinner.

It’s peaceful, filled with laughter and cuddling and Kenjirou’s offended squawking when Taichi plants a wet kiss onto his chubby cheek. When Tsutomu receives the same treatment and repays it with a gummy smile, Hayato can’t stop his heart from almost bursting with love. Taichi swoons at this and gives him another kiss, leaving a big wet blotch of saliva on Tsutomu’s cheek. The baby only giggles, making grabby hands towards Taichi.

Hayato can’t help but stop every now and then and ask himself how he got here. What kind of God looked down onto him and decided they would give this lost lamb a family out of nowhere?

The kindness makes his heart ache with love.

Just as Eita puts the lid onto the pot, letting the Hayashi sauce simmer for some time, a car honks from the outside. Taichi jumps from his chair and runs over to the window, not quite tall enough to reach it yet. So Hayato follows him, lifting him up and opening the kitchen window.

Outside, there’s Wakatoshi’s pick-up, but it’s Reon who jumps out of it. He soon spots Hayato and Taichi at the window, grins, and waves at them.

“I bring a delivery!” He tells them.

Hayato can’t help but snicker.

“We cook dinner!” Taichi yells back proudly, leaning out of the frame dangerously far. Hayato grabs him tighter and presses the toddler against his chest.

“Really? What is my favourite chef cooking, then?” Reon comes closer to the window, grinning up at them. Taichi beams at the praise.

“Haichi rice!!”

“It’s Hayashi rice,” Hayato whispers to him. The toddler scrunches his nose, the word still a bit too big for him.

“Hai… shi … hash… i? And rice!!”

Reon pretends like he didn’t notice the slip up and looks at them with playfully wide eyes.

“Really? That’s amazing, I love Hayashi rice! I bet it tastes amazing if Tai-chan cooked it!”

“Yes!!!” Taichi screams back joyfully. Hayato can’t help but laugh. He winks at Reon, and asks: “Should I come out and help you?”

“That would be nice, yeah. I brought Jin with me to help. Wakatoshi will come back a little later, he said he had something to do before coming home.”

Hayato nods before setting Taichi down and closing the window.

“Can I help?” The toddler beams at him. He’s vibrating with excitement. The day had been really exciting in general for the four-year-old, so Hayato bets he will sleep like a log tonight.

He offers a soft smile and nuzzles his nose into his cheek.

“Wouldn’t you rather help mama prepare dinner? Especially since Reon really looks forward to eating your Hayashi rice?”

Taichi looks displeased, but he nods nonetheless, especially when Eita says: “Reon loves his rice sprinkled with spring onions. Should we cut some for him, Tai-chan?”

The toddler wiggles out of Hayato’s embrace at that excitedly, hurrying over to his mother while jumping up and down.

“Yes!!”

Grinning, Hayato makes his way out into the yard where Reon and Jin wait for him.

The alpha smiles at him before asking Jin to hand down the first wooden panel from the load area.

“With best regards from Shinsuke-san,” Reon says as they unload the truck.

Hayato stares at the furniture with big eyes. There’s a wooden bedframe that looks like it’s king sized, a mattress wrapped in plastic, and more wooden pieces that, Hayato assumes, is the wardrobe Eita mentioned earlier.

“Who is Shinsuke-san?” Hayato asks. Besides that, he is at a loss for words. Of course, he has listened when Eita talked about furniture, but he really didn’t grasp that he meant … well, _real_ furniture. _For Hayato_. Especially since the pieces of said furniture look like they’re almost new.

“A friend,” Jin explains, holding a part of the bedframe down so that Hayato can grab it.

“And a trading partner,” Reon supplies. He helps Hayato with carrying it inside. “He’s a farmer, too, though he only grows rice. That’s the rice you’ve been preparing every day, you know. Their pack lives quite near, it’s around thirty minutes by car. They’re far closer than the Shiratorizawa main pack is, so we grew close, helping each other out and stuff.”

“Oh … but … why does he give furniture away? He doesn’t even know me.” Hayato can’t help but be baffled. So far, no one has mentioned this pack before. He would have to seek them out soon and thank Shinsuke-san in person for his kindness.

“That’s true,” Reon chuckles. “But you are a part of our pack, so it doesn’t really matter. Wakatoshi explained the situation because he knew Shinsuke-san had furniture he doesn’t really need. It’s his mates’ old stuff which he literally never used … Michinari is a bit special.” Reon scrunches his brows, though smiling fondly. “He refused to sleep alone even before he and Shinsuke started courting, so you can be sure that, despite being a bit dusty, the bed and the wardrobe are as good as new. And the mattress _is_ new, Wakatoshi send me out to buy it today.”

They put the bedpiece down and Hayato can’t help but blush at this. He feels weirdly cared for, and his inner Omega swoons at the thought that the stoic and seemingly uncaring pack leader made sure that he at least has a bed and a wardrobe.

“That’s … that’s so nice of him. And of Shinsuke-san, too, of course. Is there any chance we can go and meet them sometime soon? So I can thank him properly?”

Reon nods, a gentle smile on his plush lips. Together, they make their way outside again. The soothing, spicy scent of the alpha makes Hayato’s head feel light and a bit dizzy, but he enjoys the feeling in a weird way. He doesn’t want to seem desperate, so he doesn’t voice out his thoughts, but it’s the first time that an Alpha cares for him, and he … kind of likes it. Despite always claiming he’s independent, he still wants to feel loved, cared for, and important.

Sometimes, feeling a bit fragile and worthy of someone else’s care can be nice.

“We definitely can arrange that. He often comes by to bring a new load of rice – for our personal use, but also for the store; we sell it for him, you know – and to collect whatever we harvested recently and have enough to share. Oh, and I think you and Michinari would get along. He’s a bit mischievous, but a nice guy and quite easy to befriend.”

“That sounds nice,” Hayato agrees.

With the help of Jin, it doesn’t take long for them to carry the furniture inside. Reon almost instantly starts to build them up, and Hayato does his best to help him, but he soon feels tired and exhausted. His face feels hot, and his body achy.

Still, he ignores the signs.

Reon seems to notice it, though, and he tries to handle him carefully, asking him to sit down every once in a while, and touching him every now and then in a soothing way.

After a while – the bedframe is finally built up, with the mattress unfolding itself slowly on top – Eita and Taichi join them.

“Dinner is ready soon. Wakatoshi and Satori also came home, so how about taking a break?”

He eyes them and when he realises how flushed Hayato’s face looks, he furrows his brows.

“Hey, are you …”

“Dinner sounds good,” Hayato interrupts him. He doesn’t want to be questioned, much less wants to be left alone because his heat finally seems to kick in.

“You sure? You look exhausted. Maybe …”

It’s then that Wakatoshi appears in the doorframe. He eyes the room, and then Hayato, and nods lightly in approval.

“Do you need any more help in here?” He asks.

Eita scoffs.

“Let’s eat first, yeah? I think Hayato is as exhausted as you guys are, and dinner is almost ready.”

Hayato can’t help but pout. The wardrobe is almost done, too. Maybe they can finish building it up, and then eat. A hot bath would feel nice after this.

So, he shakes his head, walking towards the last wooden pieces that lean against the wall.

“I’d like to finish this now … It won’t take long, promised.”

“But Hayato …”

“No, really, it’s almost done!”

The Omega grabs the door of the wardrobe, and suddenly feels a hot wave of dizziness. His eyes widen in surprise as his body begins to stagger. Reon is by his side in an instant, grabbing his arm harshly to steady him. Hayato just feels the sharp jolt of pain at the tight grip, yelping in surprise.

Then, everything happens really fast.

Within a heartbeat, Wakatoshi is at his side, sliding an arm around his waist and pulling him close. He grabs Reon’s wrist, adding so much pressure that the Alpha loses his grip on Hayato. He huffs out in surprise and pain, while Wakatoshi does as much as _growl_ at him.

The harsh sound vibrates in Hayato’s core, tugging at strings that usually lie dormant. He whines in fear, cowering a little and, without realising what he’s doing, he offers his flushed neck to the pack Alpha in pure submission.

 _Fuck, I’m in heat_ , Hayato realises, but he can’t do much. There’s only Wakatoshi’s stealthy grip around him, and the tension building up between two unmated Alphas.

Reon can’t help but stare at his friend and pack leader. He gulps before bowing his head, his body trembling at the obvious presentation of dominance Wakatoshi offers.

“I’m sorry,” he says. 

“You hurt him,” Wakatoshi snarls.

“I didn’t mean to …”

“Wakatoshi, what the _fuck_ …?” Eita curses from the doorframe.

But their pack leader doesn’t listen. It’s only when Hayato whimpers lowly that he loosens his embrace, looking down on him with dilated pupils and a flushed face.

“I … please, stop … I … I feel so hot …”

While Reon doesn’t dare to move one inch, Eita has no such restrictions. He stomps towards them, punching Wakatoshi into his side and peeling Hayato out of his grip.

“Let him _go,_ you fucking donkey!! He’s in heat, can’t you see that? We must bring him into the bedroom in the basement … Jesus fuck, get a grip on you!”

Wakatoshi only slowly snaps out of his haze. He blinks at Eita, and then at Hayato’s trembling form in Eita’s arms. He gulps heavily, gaze flicking between Reon, Hayato and Eita.

Then, without a word, he turns around and leaves the room.

It’s only then that Reon takes a loud, shaky breath.

“What on _earth_ …”

“Doesn’t matter,” Eita replies, adjusting Hayato in his grip. “We’ll talk about that later. First, we need to get Hayato into the safe space, alright? Can you help me, or should I call for Jin?”

“No,” Reon hastily replies. He takes a deep breath as to steady himself. “Should I carry him?”

Eita shakes his head. He feels protective over Hayato, especially after this scene he’s just witnessed. If he’s being honest with himself, right now, he doesn’t trust anyone but himself with taking care of his friend.

“No. Grab a few bottles of water and some snacks. _I_ will carry him down.”

Reon opens his mouth to protest, but as he sees Eita’s determined expression, he shuts his mouth again, complying.

“Right,” he mutters. “I will do that.”

“Fine,” Eita scoffs.

He grabs Hayato carefully. His friend grunts at the feeling of being lifted.

“Hayato – I will bring you downstairs. We have a room for whenever someone goes into heat or rut. It’s a safe, clean space with a big bed. I will bring you there, yes? Everything is fine …”

Eita starts walking towards the hallway, heading over to the door that lead to the basement floor. Hayato clings onto his shirt, gasping for air.

He feels a wet spot on his pants, and an uncomfortable tightness in his guts. He doesn’t want this. Doesn’t want to be locked away, alone and without anyone to keep him company. Not that he ever had someone accompanying his heats, but still.

It’s only when Eita reaches the last stair and steps into the dark hall of the basement that Hayato understands why he feels worse than usual.

As Eita switches the light on, Hayato yelps and tries to wiggle out of his grasp.

“Tsutomu …! Eita I can’t … My pup …!”

Grunting, Eita puts him down, but wraps his arms around Hayato’s waist instead, pulling him impossibly close.

“Hey, hey, shhh … calm down, please. I will take care of him, alright? You trust me, do you? I will take care of your baby as if it were mine, and I will also take care of you, Hayato.” His voice is soothing, like a cold cloth around the neck on a hot summer day. “I promise Tsutomu will be fine. And in a few days, your heat will be over, and you can take care of him again. Sound good?”

Hayato scoffs, but a wobbly smile tugs at his lips.

“Not really … but … thank you.”

Eita’s low chuckle vibrates through Hayato’s body. He melts a little into the embrace, feeling his heart race and his blood boil. He sighs breathily.

“Come on.” Eita nudges him a little, and then helps him forward.

The room is directly situated underneath what would be the kitchen and the living room one floor above. And it’s huge.

Hayato can’t help but stare with big eyes as Eita opens the door and switches the lights on – a row of floor lamps starts shining dimly, illuminating a big room with an even bigger bed in the centre. The air smells clean, comforting even. Eita must have cleaned it up when it became evident that Hayato’s heat would hit soon.

Eita helps him towards the bed, and the soft mattress feels heavenly underneath his fingers.

“Look, Hayato.”

Slender fingers carefully grab his face. Eita looks sternly at him.

“Over there, behind the door, is a small bathroom with a toilet and a shower. I will drop by regularly, bring over food, help you clean up a little. I’ll help you with whatever you need. Alright?”

“But …” Hayato can’t focus on his friend’s face now, too embarrassed. “I will … I … You should not see me like this.”

Eita huffs at that, index finger stroking over Hayato’s hot cheek.

“Hey, I’ve been there, too, you know? There is no need to be embarrassed. And I really don’t mind. So … should we get you out of these clothes?”

Hayato bites his lip and closes his eyes, but he nods. He can barely stand the feeling of the rough material of his clothes on his skin anymore.

Eita helps him carefully to undress, and then even pulls the covers of the bed to the side to makes it easier for him to slip underneath.

“Whatever you need, alright?” He says again, face hovering over Hayato’s, his breath ghosting over his damp skin. “Just tell me. I’ll be right here. I’ll bring you snacks and water in a bit, OK? You will be fine. I promise.”

With that, he gets up and turns around.

It takes Hayato every bit of strength he has in his body to not whine after him and ask him to not leave him alone.

Eita can’t do much more than pick at his dinner.

Even though he told Reon and Wakatoshi to get a grip on themselves, it seems as if _he_ is the one who can’t … Even now, with Hayato tucked safely into their basement bedroom, supplied with water and snacks and everything he could possibly need … Eita can’t stop thinking about his delicious smell.

When he came back a few minutes later, the room was already filled with the heady scent of arousal, slick and cum.

Even yet, Eita feels like he can still smell it lingering in the air. It tingles in his nose, making his nerve endings vibrate with excitement. He still feels his dick twitch involuntarily, every now and then. He can’t stop it. Honestly, he just wants to go downstairs again and slip into the bed beside his friend. Touch him, breathe him, kiss him …

 _Get a grip on you_.

Eita huffs, shaking his head. Face flushed and body tense, he shoves a spoonful of rice into his mouth and chews angrily. He needs to _calm down_.

There’s no reason for him to be aroused by the sight of Hayato’s naked, flushed body or his sweet, yet spicy scent.

But here he is, pressing his legs together in hopes it will help him getting rid of the arousal, underpants wet with slick, dick half-hard, body shaking.

He can’t stop, can’t stop thinking about it, even with his mate at the table, with his children eating dinner, with Hayato’s pup sucking on a bottle Jin feeds him.

He, a _mated Omega_ , is as silent and tense as the unmated Alphas around the table. This is bad, he knows it. Very bad.


	8. heat of the moment

It’s only day two of Hayato’s heat when Eita must admit to himself that he has no idea on how to help his friend, and it eats at his insides.

While the mood in their house feels strained, with Wakatoshi and Reon still avoiding each other after the incident, Eita does his best to focus on the pups and Hayato.

Taking care of the pups is nothing new, even with Tsutomu added to the mix.

But Hayato’s heat is something that haunts him. Not just the way it affects him, not his increased sex drive and realising that no matter how hard Satori fucks him into the mattress at night, his needs can’t be satiated, and not the weird thoughts that he can’t shake off his head ( _something about hovering over Hayato, about spreading his legs, about biting his neck while burying himself into_ -)

Eita clenches his teeth, trying to get rid of these thoughts.

He is on his way down into the basement again, a tray with fresh food in his hands. There’s a knot in his stomach when he knocks at the door and enters a few moments after.

The worst thing about all of this is how much Hayato suffers.

A low whine rises from the bed, one that sounds so small and hurt and exhausted that it makes Eita’s hands tremble.

Never in his life has Eita suffered from a heat as badly as Hayato does right now.

He’s barely coherent, skin covered in sweat, his eyes glazed over. And he sobs from pain, every now and then, because apparently, being incapable of fulfilling his own needs causes his body to protest with aching and cramping up badly.

All Eita can do is taking care of him and hoping it will get better soon.

Or … there’s something else he can do, even though he is unsure about how it will affect their pack. It could mess up everything, yet he can’t bring himself to worry too much about that. After all, he thinks Hayato’s wellbeing is more important than the hurt ego of a sulking Alpha.

“Hey,” he says while approaching the bed. He puts the tray onto the nightstand, breathing as shallowly as possible. Hayato, unable to stop his hips from rutting against the sheets, sobs lowly into his pillow.

“Go away … please …”

“C’mere,” Eita only replies. He lightly touches Hayato’s arm, sticky with sweat. He grabs him carefully, tugging at him.

When Hayato lifts his face from the pillow, it’s flushed, eyes a bit puffy, brown eyes glazed over.

“You need to drink something. Come on.”

“Don’t wanna …”

“Don’t make me mouth-feed you.”

Hayato huffs at this, a wonky smile tugs at his lips.

“’t hurts …”

“Yeah,” Eita says, voice suddenly raspy. He comes closer, trying to help Hayato up a little so he can at least drink a few sips. “I know … Tell me, what can I do to help you?”

Hayato weakly shakes his head, opening his mouth to let Eita put an open bottle of water to it. He drinks a bit, then turns his head away, breathing heavily.

Eita lets his head sink back into the pillow and closes the bottle again. He musters his friend, and he feels so helpless.

Suddenly, it’s easy to say.

“You know that there are two unmated Alphas in this house, right?”

The only response Eita gets is a slight shiver from his friends’ body. He presses his face into the pillow again, which barely muffles the low whine escaping his mouth.

“I’m assuming you would prefer Wakatoshi’s company. Your body reacted to him before. Should I ask him if he wants to spend your heat with you?”

Still, no response.

“Or should I ask Reon? I think he would be willing to help you.”

Now, Hayato shakes his head. His shoulders rise and sink fast. When Eita puts a hand between his shoulder blades to caress him comfortingly, he feels how tense the body in front of him is.

If it were for him, he would have already stripped and accompanied Hayato in bed. He doesn’t understand why neither Reon nor Wakatoshi made a move so far. Isn’t that the most obvious thing to do? Especially when Hayato smells so delicious? When he suffered from not being filled up with a thick cock?

“Wakatoshi then?” He croaks, trying to suppress the feelings welling up inside of him.

( _Why can’t it be me, why can’t it be me, why_ -)

Hayato clears his throat before he turns his face towards Eita again, mouth slightly agape, licking his pink lips, trying to focus his gaze on Eita.

(It drives him mad.)

“Wa… Wakatoshi,” he repeats.

Eita takes a deep breath.

“You want me to ask him?”

Hayato only blushes more deeply at that, but he nods, nonetheless.

There are so many thoughts in his head that for a second, Eita can only sit there and bite his lip. He wants to scream and laugh and cry, all at the same time, but he only nods.

“Then I will do that.”

 _There’s no way Wakatoshi will say no,_ Eita thinks. _No way. I’m not even an Alpha and I want to fuck him senseless. Wakatoshi will gladly comply and I absolutely do_ not _hate the thought, at all._

~~He does.~~

“T-thank you,” Hayato pants, pressing his flushed face into the pillow, obviously embarrassed.

Eita hums in response.

“Don’t worry, Hayato. It’s alright.”

Maybe it’s not alright.

Between taking care of the pups, the chores and Hayato, Eita manages to sneak off to the toilet to jerk off _four times_ after that. He can’t remember when he was so desperately horny the last time, and he can’t wrap his head around it, too.

It’s because of Hayato’s heat, isn’t it?

He’s never felt like this before. He also never wanted to fuck someone so badly before – it’s not as if Eita is vanilla in any way, and of course he has fucked Satori before, but it hasn’t given him the same kind of satisfaction as when his mate fucked him. Back then, he’s thought doing the fucking just wasn’t his cup of tea.

But maybe it hadn’t been that.

Now, he can’t think of anything else than forcing Hayato’s toned legs open, positioning himself between his thighs and push his hard, leaking dick into his wet cunt, again and again and again, until the Omega is a stuttering, sobbing mess–

Eita groans, dropping the kitchen knife with which he was cutting bell pepper for dinner.

“Fuck,” he mutters, glaring at the bell pepper as if this mess was its fault.

Caught in between desire and guilt, Eita is at a loss about what to do. If he only were as unfazed as Satori about this, or as Jin, who is the only one out of their pack who is completely and utterly unbothered by Hayato’s thick, heady scent lingering in the air.

It sticks to Eita’s clothes, seeping through rooms, filling up his senses.

It’s driving him mad.

He chances a glance to the clock on the wall. It won’t be until half past seven that the others return home, which gives him another forty-five minutes of solitude.

He hastily checks up on the pups – all three of them are still napping, which is a blessing in itself – and then hurries back to the toilet.

The second he pulls his pants down, he’s already hard. His cunt is constricting around nothing, his dick throbbing with lust. Eita gasps as he rubs his palm along his entrance, gathering slick with his fingers. When he wraps them around his dick and closes his eyes, it’s easy to imagine he’s fucking Hayato.

He knows he shouldn’t even think about this. He has two pups and a loving, amazing mate. And of course, he loves Satori, he loves him even more than his children, probably. But this … this is something that Eita can’t fight.

He pumps his dick with fast efficiency, thrusting into his palm shallowly, imagining he’s on top of Hayato.

_This is different._

He doesn’t know why.

But he can’t help it.

He groans as he picks up the pace, flicking his wrist, slick sounds filling up the air in the small bathroom. The scent of Omega in heat is still sticking to his clothes.

“Ha… Hayato,” Eita gasps. He imagines his tits, small and perky, his hard nipples, his flushed cheeks … Imagines thrusting into him instead of his fist … Moaning, groaning Eita’s name when he comes, cunt contracting around Eita’s dick, milking him dry, needy for his seed to fill him up, to breed him–

Eita gasps as he comes, spilling into a paper towel instead of inside of the Omega he’s been thinking of all day. He tries regaining his composure, and hurries to clean himself up.

He needs to check up on Hayato and then finish dinner, and he also needs to make sure no one realises what’s going on with him.

Thoroughly, he washes his hands. Then, he checks on the pups again.

Still sleeping.

In the kitchen, he fills up a tray with a bottle of water and snacks and heads down into the basement, but in front of Hayato’s door, he halts.

Low noises are erupting from the room, a room which is only occupied by Hayato right now.

Moaning, panting, _groaning_ – “W-wakatoshi …”

Eita closes his eyes and tries to steady himself.

Instead of going in, he turns around, his knuckles turning white with how hard he’s gripping on the tray.

Just what the _fuck_ is wrong with him that this affects him so much? He can’t help it, can’t suppress the ugly feeling welling up in his stomach at the thought of Hayato jerking off while thinking of Wakatoshi.

This is ridiculous.

He’s not an Alpha, why would Hayato even consider him? He’s also mated. He’s a mother. He should know his fucking lane.

Still, he needs to chug down two cups of rice wine until he’s calmed down enough to continue preparing dinner.

After all, he has a task lying in front of him. And with all factors considered, it will probably be a hard one.

Satori doesn’t ask him what’s wrong. Mindful, sensitive, loving Satori knows when to leave Eita alone, and today, it’s wafting off of him in waves. He doesn’t want to talk. He wants to punch a tree and fuck an Omega and throw himself off a bridge because he can’t handle this mess. But he’s also not yet ready to talk about it. He doesn’t know if it will ruin his relationship with Satori for good, though he has a hunch it might not.

He knows his mate. He knows him so well, and he also knows Satori is too perceptive for his own good. Maybe he’s realised what’s going on before Eita did.

Still, voicing such things out is on a whole other level.

Eita can’t do this just yet.

So, he suffers through another silent, tense dinner.

Today, Eita feeds Tsutomu and he nuzzles his nose into the fuzzy, raven hair on the pup’s head to catch a reminiscent of Hayato’s scent, but he can’t find one.

Maybe the worst of all, and the most incomprehensible thing of all is, that Tsutomu stopped smelling like Hayato altogether.

“Wakatoshi,” he says after dinner. “Help me with the dishes.”

The Alpha stares at Eita, obviously searching for a way to get out of this, but he never has been one to talk smoothly. Wakatoshi isn’t one to find his way out of uncomfortable situations with words. Eita knows, but he doesn’t feel too bad about using this to his advantage.

So, their pack leader obliges, staying back to help Eita with doing the dishes (and if it maybe helps with getting Wakatoshi to buy a dishwasher, well, Eita won’t complain).

Only after they’ve finished cleaning the last bowl, Eita says: “Can I talk to you for a second?”

Wakatoshi tenses visibly.

After all, the atmosphere in their house had been horrible during the past two days. All because of how Hayato’s scent had affected him and Reon and how Wakatoshi had snarled at Reon because of it.

Still, he nods.

Eita sighs inaudibly and then turns to face him.

“Hayato smells deliciously, doesn’t he?”

Wakatoshi only stares, eyes wide open, a blush creeping onto his cheek bones. He stays silent, though.

“You know I’ve been taking care of him during those past days. He’s suffering. I’ve never seen an Omega suffering so badly through their heat as Hayato does right now.”

Eita’s eye twitches at the defensive expression Wakatoshi sports right now. He hates that he has to do this. Hates how Wakatoshi didn’t think of doing this himself. Neither him nor Reon did. Eita can’t understand this, no matter how hard he tries.

When Wakatoshi still doesn’t reply, Eita snarls: “He asked for your company.”

“He … what?”

Eita is ready to smack him.

“Obviously, there was something going on between the two of you,” he presses between clenched teeth, his hand gripping onto the counter as if his life depended on it. “You were affected by his scent, and he was affected by yours. No one asks you to claim him. But you obviously think he’s attractive. Or that his scent is, at least, I don’t know. Just … help him. It’s hard to watch him suffer like this.”

“You want me to …”

“To help him through his heat, yes.”

Wakatoshi stares at him like a cornered animal, eyes big, pupils dilated, breath ragged.

“No,” he says with more fervour than Eita has ever heard him speaking with. “I will not … I cannot …!”

Scrunching his eyebrows, Eita snaps: “You can’t?! What do you mean, _you can’t_? You triggered him going into preheat before and you fucking _growled_ at Reon for touching Hayato when he was going into heat! What do you mean you fucking _can’t_?!”

Shaking his head violently, Wakatoshi takes a few steps back. He’s pressing his hand onto his face, covering mouth and nose.

“No, I cannot do this …”

“What the fuck?! Why?”

“I just … no …”

“He’s in pain, you can’t tell me you don’t care about his wellbeing! Especially with how you reacted to him before! Jesus Christ, man up for once, will you?!”

Now, the Alpha narrows his eyes. He lets his hand sink, shaking his head one final time.

“I will not do this.”

With this, he turns around, leaving the kitchen as fast as possible. Next thing Eita hears is their front door being opened and slammed shut again.

Wakatoshi left.

What on _earth_ …

Eita can’t help but stare at the place where Wakatoshi was standing just a second ago. He can’t process what just happened, can’t wrap his head around it.

Wakatoshi left. He fled. Because something about helping Hayato through his heat had scared him, though what that might be, Eita can’t figure.

Right now, he wants nothing more than to beat the shit out of Wakatoshi, to punch a wall and to _scream_. He wants to scream at him and tell him to stop being such a fucking prick, and to just give in, because honestly? The way he has reacted to Hayato has been the most Alpha-like behaviour Eita has ever seen him showing. It was like Hayato affected him, like his smell and appearance and all about him awoke Wakatoshi’s instincts for probably the first time.

Eita doesn’t punch a wall, though. He bites down hard onto his own lip and starts preparing another tray with food and water for Hayato. He tries to will his anger down.

Because after all, Eita knows best. Him, and Satori, and Reon, and Jin.

They all know why they’re here, why neither of them belongs to the main pack. They’re all outcasts, in one way or the other.

Eita, because of his teen pregnancy, his unmated one, for that.

Satori, because he is himself, all weird and creeping out others with his instincts that never lie.

Reon, because he fell in love with another Alpha when he was fifteen.

Jin, because he can’t process pheromone scents, at all, which is weird even for a beta.

And Wakatoshi’s most obvious flaw has been his lack of ruts. He’s had only one, when he presented at the age of fourteen. Eita has never witnessed him going into rut after that, ever again. Has never seen him acting like an Alpha would, never reacting to Omegas. He didn’t even react to Eita when he was in heat, that one time Eita had asked him to help him through it (the experience had been underwhelming and awkward, to say the least).

As the oldest Alpha son of the Shiratorizawa pack leader Ushijima-sama, him being like this would have brought dishonour to his father. So, when Eita’s pregnancy had become undeniable, the five of them had decided that leaving would be for the best.

To keep their homeland’s traditional and conservative reputation safe.

To live a life in peace.

To find happiness and a fulfilling life without having to pretend.

To raise a child without them having to suffer from their parent’s youthful recklessness.

Eita is the last person who should try and force Wakatoshi to do something that he doesn’t want to do, right?

Still, he can’t help being angry. And he can’t help but question his behaviour, which has been so weird lately. Something is up, but apparently, Wakatoshi isn’t ready to talk about it. He always has had problems talking about his feelings, and this Situation doesn’t seem to be an exception.

Eita hates it.

He fills up his tray and again, makes his way downwards into the basement.

This time, there are no muffled sounds at all, even when Eita stops and tries to make out if he interrupts something by going in now.

He knocks, but still, there’s no response.

Scrunching his brows in worry, he opens the door a bit and announces: “Hayato, it’s me. Eita. I’m coming in.”

The smell of body wash, cold water and Hayato’s heat engulfs him when he steps in. He closes the door behind himself and searches the room for his friend, only to find him crouching beside the bed, a towel wrapped around his shoulders, hair drippingly wet.

“Hayato?”

Now, he can’t help but being worried. He hurries towards him, putting the tray on the nightstand and kneels down beside his friend.

“Hey, are you OK?”

Trembling, Hayato raises his head. His gaze is unsteady, his face flushed.

“Yeah,” he croaks. “Jus’ … took a shower …”

“Why are you sitting on the floor, then?” Eita sighs, reaching out for him and caressing his back comfortingly. “Come on, let me help you up. I will rub your hair dry, yes?”

Hayato nods weakly and lets Eita help him. Only when he’s somewhat dry, Eita pushes him down onto the sheets and tries to get him to eat something.

He only manages a few bites and a sip out of the water bottle until he turns his face away, eyes clenched shut.

“Still not better?” Eita asks.

Hayato laughs breathlessly.

“It’s OK … I’ll survive.”

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

Eita tries to smile, but it probably doesn’t look reassuring, at all. He’s not sure how he should address the issue at hand, but he knows he must say it. Maybe ripping the band-aid off in one go will be the best.

“I talked to Wakatoshi …”

The way Hayato’s shoulders tense says it all, but the Omega doesn’t do much apart from quivering again and gulping hard.

Eita hates doing this.

“He said he … he doesn’t wish to spend your heat with you.”

Hayato’s breath hitches, getting stuck in his throat. Even though he turns his face further to the other side, to hide his pain from Eita, it’s still obvious. He gasps, trying to suppress a sob which is about to force itself out of his throat.

“Hey,” Eita says, getting up from the chair he was sitting on, slipping onto the bed. He grabs Hayato’s shoulders carefully and tries to make him look at Eita.

“Hey, this is not your fault, Hayato … Wakatoshi is … he is very special. He can’t deal with feelings, at all. He doesn’t mean to offend you, or reject you, he just – Hayato, please …”

When his friend looks up to him, his eyes spill over. Silently, without making a sound, Hayato crumbles and Eita can’t do this. He just _can’t._

With a gasp he shuffles closer, coming to lie beside him, and he puts an arm around his naked waist.

When Hayato turns to bury his face into Eita’s shoulder, he finally allows himself to sob.

“It’s not you, Hayato … I promise, it’s not because of you …”

For a long time, he just holds Hayato close, rubbing circles onto his bare back. When eventually, his skin starts feeling cold, he grabs a near blanket and drapes it over them.

It takes about an eternity for Hayato to calm down.

Slowly and without a word, Eita starts scenting him, rubbing the scent glands on the side of his jaw along everything he can reach – Hayato’s hair, his forehead, his wet cheeks, his neck, his shoulders. Soon, he feels Hayato relaxing against him, melting into the embrace. He dozes off for some time, and Eita only watches him, until he starts fidgeting again.

His skin gets warmer and warmer, sweat starts covering his skin and his scent gets stronger, too.

Another wave of his heat.

Only now does Eita realise just how close he is to Hayato, how his naked body is pressed flush against his own. He smells him, _feels_ him. The effect of Hayato’s heat on him was bad before, bis this is even worse.

Eita tries to make their position more comfortable, but Hayato starts shuffling restlessly, moaning lowly in pain.

Eita can’t take this anymore.

“Hey,” he whispers. He strokes Hayato’s messy, still wet hair and lightly touches his feverish forehead. Hayato moans at the touch. Eita’s fingers must feel heavenly cool.

“Please tell me what to do, Hayato,” Eita begs. “My heats were never as bad as yours. I don’t know how to help you.”

Honestly, he has an idea, but he isn’t sure how Hayato will feel about it.

“’s fine,” Hayato slurs, following the touch and pressing his face into Eita’s palm. “’s fine … jus’ takes a few days …”

Eita can’t help but feel a pang of empathy, of sadness and anger in his chest.

He caresses Hayato’s cheek and bites his own lip in thought, unsure of how to phrase what he wants to say. After all, Hayato’s request had been clear – he wanted Wakatoshi to accompany his heat, which the Alpha refused for reasons Eita can only guess.

Hayato didn’t want Reon.

No, he wanted Wakatoshi.

But … there’s still another Alpha in their household.

“Hey, Hayato …” Eita tries again.

He puts his face closer, breath ghosting over his friend’s hot skin, lips brushing against his cheek bone. He breathes in the sweet, thick scent of his heat, feeling his own body trembling in a form of excitement he can’t even describe. He tries to push it down, swallowing hard.

“If you want, I can ask Satori to help you. I know it’s not the same because he’s mated but … he could help you.” Eita hesitates, before adding in a whisper: “ _We_ could help you. I … I wouldn’t mind …”

He can hear how Hayato’s breath hitches before he almost angrily huffs.

“No way. There’s no way I could … we could … no …”

“Hayato, please let me help you,” Eita begs. His heart is pounding like crazy in his chest as he’s pressing his lips against the Omega’s cheek.

As if on instinct, Hayato turns his head, and despite claiming he doesn’t want Eita’s help, his mouth suddenly presses against Eita’s, hot tongue darting out and finding its way in between Eita’s teeth.

The sharp jolt of arousal in his crotch makes Eita breathless. He moans into the touch, scooting closer and reciprocating the kiss.

Somewhere in the back of his head he knows he should not do this. Not … like this.

He should talk to Satori first.

He is fairly sure his mate would not be against it. In fact, Satori told him numerous times he finds it hot to imagine Eita with another Omega. But they have never seriously talked about it because the imagination hadn’t given Eita the same sort of excitement, and there simply hasn’t been any other Omega in their life who could fill in this place.

But now with Hayato … and as for Eita, he wouldn’t mind knowing that Satori is intimate with Hayato. He had never been the jealous type, but apart from that, it would help Hayato, would make him feel better, and Eita … Eita would feel better, too. Because he hates to see his friend suffer.

(Only, there’s this voice in the back of his head, screaming against restraints he hadn’t known he suffered from until now … _Why can’t I fulfil his need? Why can’t I be the one fucking him, making him feel good, full, whole? Why can’t it be me?!_ )

If he’s being honest with himself … From the beginning on, he has thought Hayato was utterly attractive. And seeing him in this state clearly does affect him. He wants … _more_.

Without giving it a second thought, Eita lets his hand wander downwards, over Hayato’s hot chest, his swollen breasts, and the sensitive nipples. He flicks one, pinching it a little, swallowing the Omega’s moan hungrily. There’s heat pooling in his crotch, and his dick almost hurts from being so hard.

Never in his life has he wanted to fuck someone as much as Hayato now.

The muscles in Hayato’s abdomen contract at the featherlight touch of fingers that aren’t his own, and when Eita closes his grip around the small, pulsating cock, Hayato moans shamelessly.

Feeling it twitching in his hand makes Eita almost lose his cool.

Eita pumps it a few times before his fingers continue their journey, down the length of his cock over his balls, and downwards. He feels the wetness before everything else. Hot, sticky, and there’s so much. He almost doesn’t feel how his finger enters Hayato’s hole, but he hears the Omega whine in need. Panting from arousal, Eita quickly adds another finger and now he feels how tight Hayato actually is.

 _God, it would feel amazing to fuck into his tight cunt_ …

Slowly, he thrusts in and out, picking up the pace as the Omega starts to reciprocate the thrusts, fucking himself on Eita’s fingers. Their kiss gets sloppy, slick sounds filling the room, both from kissing Hayato and fingering him in a harsh, fast pace.

 _Fuck, I want more. I want to bury myself in him_ , Eita thinks. He scoots a little closer, fingering him faster, swallowing every moan.

“Hayato, can I … I want to …”

The Omegas tongue dances over Eita’s lower lip, leaving a wet trail before breaking apart, gasping for air and moaning loudly.

“Eita,” he sighs. “Eita, I … ah … please … more …”

Hayato gasps when Eita curls his fingers a little to the front. His naked body goes tense, his mouth and eyes wide open in surprise.

Gasping, he begs: “Yes, yes, yes … more, Eita, please … ah, faster, f-faster …”

Eita buries his face in the crook of Hayato’s neck in hopes to steady himself, while he picks up the pace, crooking his fingers with every other trust. He feels more slick gushing out of Hayato’s twitching hole.

With trembling fingers, the Omega tries to grasp onto Eita’s shoulders.

“God, I ... ah, yes, ah- Eita …!”

As the tight hole begins to contract around Eita’s fingers, Hayato buries his nails into Eita’s shoulder, crying out in bliss. The feeling of his skin breaking underneath Hayato’s nails while fingering him through his orgasm almost pushes Eita over the edge, too.

He only stops when Hayato starts jerking away from overstimulation. When he pulls his fingers out, Hayato gasps, still clinging onto Eita’s shoulders.

“Oh God …” he whispers as Eita nuzzles his nose into the crook of Hayato’s neck. “Eita … Sorry, I … Oh God, I’m sorry …”

“What are you apologising for?” Eita rasps, lips hovering over the curve of his neck, feeling Hayato’s pulse against his mouth. It’s almost frantic now, even faster than before.

The Omega takes a deep and shaky breath. His grip onto Eita’s back loosens up, he gulps. Then, he pushes against him, only lightly, but Eita takes the hint and brings some distance between them.

His pants feel tight and wet and he would love nothing more than to strip himself naked and get in between Hayato’s thighs. But looking at his friend now, he’s sure he wouldn’t want it.

Burying his face in his hands, Hayato whimpers lowly.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry! … I … please don’t tell Satori … please …!”

“Hey, shhh, Hayato …” Eita says while sitting up. He grabs the blanket he’s thrown off while fingering Hayato, and puts it over his friend again, caressing his arm comfortingly.

“Don’t worry, it’s alright … everything is alright, you’ve done nothing wrong. I was the one touching you. Satori won’t be mad, I promise.” _At least I hope so_.

“You … you really think so?”

Hayato peeks at him from between his fingers, face flushed, and brows furrowed.

“Yeah,” Eita breathes. He studies his face for a second, and smiles. “Don’t worry. It’s alright. Come on, let me help you clean up and then try to get some rest …”

But when he reaches out to him, Hayato shies away from the touch, face reddening even more.

“No! I mean … no, thank you but it’s OK, I’ll do it myself, just … uh …”

“Oh.” Eita blinks at him. “Right. I will leave you alone, then. Uhm … Good night, Hayato.”

“Yeah … good night, Eita …”

When Eita gets up, he still feels the tingling sensation of arousal in his abdomen, dick still half hard, his shorts uncomfortably wet with slick. He gulps hard before turning around.

 _Omegas in heat_ , he thinks, _really are something else_. He feels himself … wanting to fuck him. Bury himself into the sweet wetness, fucking Hayato ruthlessly. He wants …

Before Eita shuts the door behind himself, Hayato mumbles something unintelligible, and then, a bit louder, says: “Thank you, Eita.”

“Yeah … anytime.”

With that, Eita leaves. He hopes Satori is still awake because he needs a good fuck, _right now_ , or he might combust from desire.

Hayato doesn’t know what time it is, or which day, or how many times he now tried fingering himself to get rid of the empty hollowness in his abdomen. He knows that he needs something else, but that something cannot be provided, no matter how much he wishes for it.

So, he just buries his face into the pillow, sobbing and gasping for air while rutting against the sheets. Everything hurts. It’s not enough and too much at the same time.

He almost misses the sound of the door being opened.

Assuming it’s Eita – when was the last time he checked on Hayato? What did he want? Did he really touch him or was it all just a dream …? – Hayato whines: “Leave me alone …!”

He’s not in the mood for drinking, or eating, or cleaning himself up.

Nothing really matters. He just wants to find a way to satisfy himself without begging Reon or Satori or even Eita to just fuck him senseless – because he can’t do that, right? He’s disappointing in a lot of ways and having a pup without a mate is bad enough. The fact that Wakatoshi refused to help him through his heat says it all. He doesn’t want to make it worse by letting himself be fucked by anyone.

Especially since he’s a virgin, though no one can know that.

It takes him a few seconds to realise that the scent filling up the room now is not Eita’s. It’s not even Reon’s, or Satori’s, or Jin’s. No, it’s heavier, spicy, filled with … lust and desire and a rough, animalistic yearning that Hayato can’t help but choke on.

_Wakatoshi._

He turns his head to the door, trying to fixate his gaze on the tall Alpha who closes the door behind himself, staring at Hayato with dark, hooded eyes.

“…toshi …” The Omega breathes. Then, a sob escapes his lips. He can’t help it, feeling as if nothing really can help him – apart from this Alpha.

“Wakatoshi …” He tries again, shuffles a little on the bed, feeling the light blanket sliding off his hips, revealing his naked, shaking body. “…toshi please … please …”

Hayato doesn’t try to understand why the Alpha suddenly chose to see him. Why he now comes closer, and suddenly, hovers over Hayato. Why his gaze is burning with a violent desire that lacks his usual calm self completely.

He growls at the Omega beneath him, and when Hayato shudders from that, sobbing lightly, Wakatoshi grabs his hip, pressing his hardened cock against Hayato’s leg before forcing them apart. And Hayato – Hayato closes his eyes, moaning needily at the touch.

He lets it happen.


	9. grip me in your hands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings: Dubious Consent, Mild Violence, Mild Panic Attacks

Eita washes himself thoroughly. His hands, dried slick sticking to them, his face, his arms, everything. He feels hot, but he doesn’t touch himself while he is in the bathroom. He needs something else now, and he’s tired of jerking off without really getting any kind of satisfaction out of it.

He’s desperate.

So, he cleans himself up and puts on a silken nightgown that’s only held together by a string around his waist. It’s short, only long enough to cover his ass if he doesn’t bend down. He knows Satori loves him wearing that – and only that. It always drives him crazy.

With all this pent-up sexual need, he’s totally ready to wake Satori up to fuck him senseless, but when he enters the office behind which their bedroom is located, a small table lamp still illuminates the room.

Satori is sitting on his worktable, flipping through some bills, and packing slips. When he hears the door being closed, he looks up, a smile on his face.

“Semisemi, I thought you would never come to bed- oh.”

Surprised, he takes in his outfit and then stares at his mate’s eyes, dark with lust. He gets up from his chair and surrounds his desk the second Eita starts walking towards him, bare feet prodding against the cold wooden floor.

Satori holds his arms out for him, and Eita crashes into his chest, almost slamming his lips onto Satori’s.

Biting, licking, his tongue roaming inside of his mate’s mouth, he moans when he feels Satori lifting him up, his hands slipping underneath the silken material just to feel his bare ass.

“Fuck,” Satori says, turning around and dropping Eita onto his desk. “You should have said something. If I knew you wanted it so badly, I would’ve fucked you right after dinner …”

“Shut up,” Eita orders, yanking him closer by his collar. “Shut up and fuck me.”

Satori laughs breathlessly. He bends down, bringing his face closer to Eita’s neck. For a second, he stills, just inhaling deeply. Then, he starts sucking on his skin, licking his minor scent glands, while his hands roam over his naked thighs.

Eita closes his eyes and lets himself fall.

He feels hands diving deeper. The touch is featherlight and yet so prominent. When he feels a finger entering his cunt, he gasps. Yet, he still doesn't open his eyes. He lets himself fall, fall, fall, into the depths of his imagination.

He still smells Hayato. Tastes him on his tongue.

The touch on his nightgown as it’s being opened … the tongue licking at his erect nipples, drawing mewls out of his mouth … the lips closing around his cock, sucking him with fervour while two fingers thrust into him with a steady pace … Eita sees Hayato hovering above him behind closed eyes. Sees him smiling, a bit teasing. Sees him shoving his pants down, revealing his hard cock.

Feels him entering him without any hesitation –

Eita moans lustfully at the penetration. He wraps his legs around Hayato’s waist, pulling him closer, fucking back onto his dick. The feeling of being filled up is so good, so perfect. Eita brings a hand over his mouth. He still feels as if he can smell Hayato’s slick on his fingers while he bites into his knuckles to keep himself from being too loud.

The pace picks up, the cock penetrating him is changing its angle a little and hitting Eita’s sweet spot just about perfectly.

He throws his head back, trying to get a hold onto something, anything.

His hands shove papers from the desk he’s lying on while trying to steady himself against the hard thrusts into his wet cunt.

 _Hayato_ thrusts into him.

 _Hayato_ bites into the soft flesh of his exposed breast, licking his nipple.

 _Hayato_ fucks him hard, his cock prodding against the right spot, over and over and over again.

 _Hayato_ … pushes him over the edge.

“Ah! … ha … Hayato …!” Eita mewls as he constricts around his dick, his own cum spurting onto his bare stomach.

The thrusts still completely at this, ragged breathing dancing over his chest.

And Eita’s eyes snap open in shock.

“No,” he whispers, “Satori, God, no, I … I’m sorry I didn’t – I didn’t mean …”

He tries to pull himself away from his mate, grabbing his shoulders frantically to get him to _look_ at Eita. Panic floods his chest, making his eyes sting with tears.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Satori, please …”

Instead of pulling away, Satori thrusts deeper into him, kissing his collarbone before lifting his head. His eyes are dark with desire. He bares his teeth at Eita in a show of dominance, but licks his lips only a second after, a soothing gesture.

“What does he taste like?” Satori murmurs as he picks up thrusting into his mate again, painfully slow.

Eita gasps, the overstimulation almost makes him jerk away.

“I … I don’t …”

“You smell of him, Eita-kun. His scent is sticking to your body … it smells delicious … does he taste like this, too?”

“Satori, please, stop, I … I’m sorry, please, let’s talk about – ah!”

With a harsh thrust into him, Satori shuts him up efficiently. He smiles. It’s neither teasing nor fake.

“Tell me … did you fuck him? Or did he fuck you? What does he taste like?” He pants while picking up pace, fucking into Eita with harsh thrusts.

“No!” Eita cries out. He tries to get a hold onto something, clutching onto Satori’s shoulders for support. “I didn’t … he didn’t …”

“What do his moans sound like, Eita-kun?”

Satori pinches his left nipple, just hard enough for it to sting. But Eita welcomes the pain, it only fuels his arousal.

“He … ah, he sounds so _good_ …!”

“Did you fuck him?”

“No! I f-fingered him … he … ah, fucked himself on my fingers …”

Satori hums with satisfaction, biting into Eita’s bare shoulder, leaving marks as he sucks on the reddening skin.

“Was he as wet for you as you are for me …?”

“God,” Eita pants. Without a coherent thought, he starts meeting Satori’s thrusts. The sound of skin slapping against skin, cock slamming into his wet cunt, fills up the air. He moans.

“He was so wet … so deliciously wet …”

“You wanted to fuck him.”

“I – ah! Yes! Yes, I wanted to! … Satori, faster, please, f-faster!”

At this, Satori stills completely. Eita gasps in shock, trying to bring him to continue, but Satori doesn’t oblige. He licks up Eita’s neck and only stops when his mouth is hovering over Eita’s.

“Eita you’re so needy … you wanted to fuck him … to fill him up …”

“ _Yes_ …”

“Would you have used condoms, mh? … Or did you want to come into his cunt unprotected?”

Eita stares at Satori with flushed cheeks, gasping for air. He stares and licks his lips and quivers, and then he admits: “I wanted to fill him up with my cum until it spilled out … I wanted him to milk me dry, to completely swallow all of my cum …”

Satori huffs a laugh, lips touching Eita’s just barely, a soft touch.

“Fuck …” Satori whispers. “Fuck, yes …”

And then, Satori lifts his upper body from Eita’s, grips his hips as hard as he can and starts thrusting again with a brutal pace.

This time, Eita lets go completely. He lets himself fall into the sensation, moaning, _screaming_ without restraints. And if he knocks down even more papers while doing so, well, who is he to care?

When he comes for the second time, he throws his head back, moaning loudly. It doesn’t take long for Satori to still above him, cock twitching inside of him while releasing his seed into him.

He pants heavily.

“Fuck …” Satori says, huffing and grinning down at his mate who is a beautiful wreck on top of his work desk. A beautiful, completely wrecked mess.

“Eita, you’re so, so beautiful … fuck …” When he pulls out, Eita gasps, and Satori catches the sound with his lips, kissing him tightly.

“I’m so proud of you, Eita-kun … so proud …”

“Huh …?”

“I thought you’d never admit you have the hots for Hayato-kun … I know how stubborn you are. But look at you, being so needy and straight forward and brave enough to get into his pants! I’d love watching you two next time …!”

Eita blinks, slowly coming back to reality. When Satori pulls away, he sits up, wrapping his nightgown tightly around his shivering, sweaty frame. He feels the cum on his stomach drying up, and Satori’s release slowly dripping out of himself.

“You’re not … not mad at me?”

Satori only snickers.

“If I was, then probably only about how you didn’t tell me how you felt. But I’m not. I saw how you struggled these past days … and God, you smelled like you wanted to fuck Hayato-kun raw. How do you expect me to not realise what’s going on?”

Eita is still staring, trying to process. And then, his eyes start spilling over. He sobs, and Satori, ever the loving, perceptive, most perfect mate, tugs him in for a tight hug, cooing sweetly at him.

“Hey, it’s alright … It’s alright, Eita-kun … as long as I know you still love me and are happy with being with me, we’re alright …”

“But,” Eita hiccups, “but Satori, I … think I like him, too. I feel so weird around him … what is going on with me, I don’t understand …!”

Satori hums, kissing his hair, slowly rocking him in his arms.

“It’s not weird to like another Omega, Eita-kun, or liking more than one person. Nothing is weird about this, I promise … Just talk to me, Eita. Don’t hide away from me … we can work this out together.”

Satori’s words only make Eita cry harder. Suddenly, he feels so bad. He feels like he doesn’t deserve him to be so kind, like he betrayed Satori’s trust. He _cheated_ on him, didn’t he? And up until now, Eita didn’t even feel bad!

“I’m so sorry,” he cries. “So, so sorry … please don’t hate me, I don’t know why I did that, why I … why I – ”

“Shhhh, stop it right there,” Satori says. “I’m well aware about _why_ you got intimate with Hayato-kun, and you are, too. Because he needed you. And because you wanted him. It’s alright, I promise … now stop crying, Semisemi, I promise everything is fine, yes? I _promise_. And we will talk this out, mh?”

“I _cheated_ on you, Satori …!”

“Baby,” Satori interjects, laughing a little. “You can only cheat on me if I don’t know about it and if I disagree with you having sex with another person. But I did know, and I smelled it on you, and the only thing I regret about it is not having been there with you.”

Eita still at this, sniffling.

“You … would have wanted to be there? With us?”

“Obviously.”

“But … but …”

“But why?”

Eita takes a deep breath. He pushes himself away from Satori to look at him properly, and nods.

The smile on his mate’s lip makes his heart ache even more. Tenderly, Satori wipes the tears from his cheeks.

“Because I love seeing you happy. And if you want me to be completely honest here, I _do_ think Hayato-kun is very handsome. His smell is … delicious. I wouldn’t mind being with him, either. With you both.”

Eita blinks at him, and he feels so much, all at the same time. He can’t help but start laughing, lowly at first, but then loudly, free. He feels so relieved. So _fucking_ relieved.

“What did I do to deserve you, Satori? You’re the best fucking thing that ever happened to me.”

Satori gasps in mock shock.

“Ohhh what? Did I hear right? Semisemi complimented me! I will have to mark today in my calendar and- _ouch_! Hey, no punching!”

“Shut up,” Eita snickers. “You’re an idiot.”

Satori grins in response.

“Well, that’s my Semisemi for you. Now … what do you think? Should we talk to Hayato-kun? About all of this? Or do you think he’s not ready for it yet?”

Eita scrunches his brows, the smile on his lips slowly fading.

“I think Hayato has feelings for Wakatoshi. And I also think Wakatoshi likes him back but … he’s fighting it, though I can’t figure why. I don’t think Hayato would want … uh … having something going on with us.”

Humming, Satori presses a kiss onto his forehead.

“Semisemi, you know I love you, but I have to tell you that you _again_ came to the wrong conclusion here.”

“Hey!”

“I mean … just trust me on this. I think you’re right concerning Hayato’s feelings for Wakatoshi-kun and all of this. But there’s more to it … ah, well. Anyways, how about we go to sleep? And we talk to him tomorrow? It’s already late, even for a Saturday evening.”

Eita pouts, but he lets himself be guided toward their bedroom.

Surprisingly enough, Kenjirou is fast asleep with Tsutomu right beside him in his crib and Eita takes it as a good omen. He will get a good night’s sleep and tomorrow, he and Satori will figure this out.

Maybe, everything will be click into place.

Maybe Satori is right.

He hopes he is.

The next morning, Wakatoshi is still nowhere to be seen. Eita can’t help but feel bad because after all, he was the one forcing Wakatoshi to think about his feelings. With no success, obviously, but still.

Maybe he has gone for a hunt, to clear his head.

No one else really questions their pack leader being missing. Jin only shrugs, Satori probably knows what happened by a gut feeling alone and Reon looks too tired to really care.

When Eita hands him a cup of coffee, Reon’s eye twitches, but he thanks him, nonetheless.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” The Omega asks, grabbing a bottle from the counter and sitting down with a whiny Tsutomu in his arms, who already makes grabby hands at his breakfast.

Eita chances him a glance and chuckles, putting the bottle to his mouth. The pup starts sucking hungrily, and Eita lets him, focusing on Reon again.

“You look like sh…, uh, you look like you didn’t sleep very well.”

Reon gawks at him.

“Are you aware that I live in the room next to yours?”

“Huh? Well yes, but …”

“Then you might also be aware of the fact that I can _hear you_ when you’re loud at night, yes?”

Eita blinks, face flushing bright red.

“Oh! Oh God, Reon, I’m so sorry … I … uh, we, I mean … uhm …”

“Yeah, it’s whatever,” Reon sighs, taking a huge sip of his coffee. “Just … spare me next night, please …”

“Mama, do you play games at night?” Taichi asks from where he sits beside him, on Jin’s lap. He blinks at his mother curiously and a teeny bit too innocently.

Eita narrows his eyes at him.

“No, we didn’t play a game, Taichi. No one plays games at night in this house, it’s not allowed.”

At this, the toddler pouts. He snuggles a little more into Jin’s arms and shoots his mother a disbelieving glance.

“But Reon says you was loud. Mama says being loud at night is not allowed, too!”

Jin snickers and plants a kiss on the toddler’s head while Eita glares at his son. Taichi is already too smart for his own good, and Eita hates how the kid outsmarts him sometimes.

“Mama and Papa were talking. It’s adult things, Taichi. Once you’re an adult, you will understand.”

Taichi only grumbles into the sleeve of Jin’s sweater, though Eita would swear he heard him saying that, once he is an adult, he will allow everyone to play games at night.

“Tai-chan and I can play games later on, if he wants,” Jin says with a smile on his face. He helps the toddler grabbing his cup of tea and drinking a few sips. “Do you want to play house? Or we can draw pictures together, what do you think?”

“Yes!!” Taichi yells happily at this, startling Tsutomu and Kenjirou, who both start fussing. None of the adults scold him, but still, he looks dejected, peeking at Tsutomu who’s kicking the air and complaining before he lets himself be soothed by Eita’s gentle rocking and cooing.

“’m sorry …” Taichi whispers.

“It’s alright,” Eita sighs. He smiles at his pup before turning to Jin.

“Actually, I have a question … Satori and I have something we need to take care of, and we’d be happy if you could maybe take care of the pups for a few hours? I’m sorry for asking you all of a sudden, it’s just … some sort of emergency.”

“Oh,” Jin blinks at him with worry in his eyes. “Did something happen? I hope it’s nothing too bad. Do you want me to take care of Hayato, too?”

“No! That’s not necessary. I will make sure he’s got everything he needs before … taking care of this thing. Also, don’t worry, it’s nothing bad I think.”

“Mh.” Confusedly, Jin nods. “I can do that, it’s no problem. Tai-chan will help me, right?”

The toddler nods earnestly while munching on a spoonful or rice.

“Do you need me to take them right after breakfast?”

Eita bites his lip and nods.

“Would that be alright?”

“Yeah, no problem. I will take them to the living room, then.”

“Thank you, Jin.”

Eita takes a deep breath before looking over to Satori, who himself is watching Eita with a fond smile on his face. When he realises his mate is looking at him, Satori winks. Then, he focuses on Kenjirou in his arms again. The pup is even more moody than usually and if Eita would have to make a guess, he’d say it’s probably because Satori is sitting across the table, which brings Tsutomu a little too far away from Kenjirou for his liking. Little brat.

The rest of breakfast goes smoothly. After that, Satori helps him cleaning up and preparing a light breakfast for Hayato.

They talk in hushed voices. Eita’s insecurities are eating at him, but Satori is trying to ease his worries.

“I think we should just be honest with him. Tell him how you feel about him. And that we don’t expect anything from him. And that what happened yesterday was more than OK. It will be fine.”

And, if Satori is confident everything will be fine, then he must be right. Satori is mostly always right, and Eita trusts him with everything he got. They will be fine.

So, with a tray in his hands and Satori walking beside him, Eita steps down into the basement again. This time, his heart is beating like crazy in his chest. He’s nervous, antsy and a bit anxious, but having Satori with him helps him to not freak out too much.

That is, until they come to a halt in front of the bedroom door.

There are sounds coming out of it, but this time, it’s … different.

“… _toshi_ …”

The bed squeaks loudly, there’s shuffling and movement. Someone growls, a deep sound that could have never, ever come out of Hayato’s mouth. Then, there’s a loud thud, like something slamming against wood.

Eita starts shaking violently, his stomach sinking. Satori grabs the tray out of his hands before it falls to the floor, putting it on a nearby dresser and grabbing Eita’s arm.

Then, he whispers: “Well, maybe we should come back later…”

“Shh!” Eita hisses. He stares at the door and realises that the sinking feeling in his gut isn’t rejection or heartbreak. It’s … _fear_. His senses _scream_ at him, though he can’t understand what they’re saying.

But he knows something is off.

“…toshi!” Hayato gasps again, then, he whimpers. “No, don’t –” A hissing sound, as if someone were in pain.

“Stop! Wakatoshi, _please_ … Ouch!”

If Eita were still holding that tray, he would’ve just let it drop to the ground. With a gasp, he jumps forward, grabbing the doorknob, yanking the door open.

The potence of the scent in the air makes him almost back away, but he grits his teeth, trying to breathe shallowly. When his eyes fall onto the bed, he freezes completely.

There’s Hayato, pressed into the mattress by Wakatoshi’s body – his _naked_ body. Hayato’s struggling, trying to shove him away, and if the scent of blood in the air is an indicator, then Eita thinks Wakatoshi must be trying to …

“No!” The Omega yells, fighting tooth and nail to get the Alpha off him, to stop him from trying to _claim_ him.

Eita sees red.

“Stop! Wakatoshi, no!!” He jumps forward, running over to the bed and tries to grab Wakatoshi, tries to pull him away. Wakatoshi doesn’t even seem to recognise him. He just shoves him away so hard that Eita falls onto the floor with a loud thud.

Then, Satori is on Wakatoshi. He might be a bit taller, but in comparison to Wakatoshi, Satori is a lightweight. Still, he tackles him, just about manages to push Wakatoshi over the side of the bed with him before the other Alpha pins him to the ground, hovering over him, growling.

“What the fuck is going on here?!” Eita gasps, getting up and hurrying over to Hayato.

The Omega looks horrible.

His skin is pale, his cheeks wet with tears. There are bruises everywhere, the most prominent one being one on his cheekbone which also split up, leaving a smudged trail of blood on his face. And there’s blood seeping out of a bite mark on his neck, just barely missing his major scent gland.

Hayato sobs as Eita pulls him into a tight embrace. His whole body smells of Alpha and sex and blood.

“What did he do to you?! Hayato, oh God, Hayato … Come on, hurry up, let’s get you out of here, we need to call for Reon and Jin … hurry up, please, I-”

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Wakatoshi raising a fist, ready to slam it into Satori’s face. Eita is about to jump in between, panic flooding his system, when Satori’s head jerks up, slamming into Wakatoshi’s face instead, stunning their pack Alpha for a few moments.

Sobbing, Eita grasps Hayato tighter and drags him over to the door.

“Reon!” he screams as soon as they’re in the hallway leading up to the first floor. “Reon, Jin, please, _help_! Wakatoshi, he … he …”

It takes everything in him to not let Hayato slip to the floor and run back to help his mate. The bond mark on his neck burns at the thought of leaving Satori behind in danger. He can barely catch his breath, panic threatening to take over …

Then, there’s someone running down the stairs.

Reon almost doubles over when he comes to a halt in front of them.

He stares at the Omegas with wide eyes, mouth agape.

“Eita, what on earth …”

“Help Satori!” Eita yells, motioning behind him to the bedroom. “I think Wakatoshi went into rut!”

Reon yelps in shock, but he does as he’s asked to.

A few moments later, Jin follows suit, running into the bedroom. Eita only stays long enough to watch them dragging Wakatoshi off Satori.

Then, he focuses on Hayato again, who’s staggering. Eita presses him closer to himself, still trembling, but he needs to be strong now. He gulps, and then, he helps Hayato upstairs.

“Come on … Hayato, it’s alright, I’m with you, it’s fine, you’re safe …”

Eita says of all these things, when in fact he wants nothing more than to apologise for being so naïve, for not realising what would happen if Wakatoshi tried being with Hayato during his heat. It’s all his fault because he told Wakatoshi to _man up_ and _help their friend_.

Every single bruise on Hayato’s body is his own fault.


	10. haze

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings: Dubious Consent, Mild Violence, Blood

There is a haze in Wakatoshi’s head, just as it has been these past days. He finds himself unable to get rid of this feeling, no matter how much he tries to distract himself. The feeling is alien, uncomfortable.

He finds listening to Eita hard as he rambles on while they’re doing the dishes. Eita’s mood is obviously not the best. He talks about Hayato and his current state. Wakatoshi frowns.

 _Hayato_ , he thinks. Another voice in his head, a low rumble, a possessive growl, adds, _Omega, Omega, Omega. Mine._

Wakatoshi feels heat boiling through his body, making him sweat in the middle of the cool kitchen. He blinks, trying to regain his composure. His hands are shaking slightly, but he tries to force them to stay still. He doesn’t know what’s going on. All he can think about is Hayato in the basement, Hayato in heat, Hayato … _Omega, Omega, Omega. Take, Bite, Claim. Mine. Omega …_

Eita’s voice burns through his intrusive thoughts like acid.

“He asked for your company.”

If Wakatoshi knows one thing, then that he should not go and see Hayato right now. He knows this isn’t good. For none of them. He can barely control his impulsive surges of … of whatever this is. He doesn’t think seeing Hayato will do him good.

Eita’s anger, his reproaches, or even knowing that Hayato is in pain – nothing will change that.

He can’t even explain it. It’s also not like Eita could understand it. Eita is immune to … _this_. He’s an Omega. How could he possibly know how hard it is to not lose his control when he is surrounded by such a rich, yet delicate scent? Wakatoshi doesn’t even understand it himself.

Even now, Eita faintly smells of it – of Hayato’s heat. Yet, he stays cool and doesn’t act any different than normal. If this scent was sticking to Wakatoshi’s clothes, it would drive him insane.

Wakatoshi’s nostrils flare as he takes a deep breath, taking in the lingering scent of Omega in heat. His thoughts scream at him just as Eita almost does.

He can’t take this anymore.

He will not … _man up_.

“I will not do this.” His voice is harsh and rough, but steady.

Then, he turns around and leaves.

Well – Wakatoshi _tries_ to leave. He really does.

It’s laughable how he can’t get away from his home even a few metres. He paces around the house, his heart pumping at a rapid pace, his body burning with heat. He wants to strip himself, to shift and to run.

But – he can’t.

Wakatoshi growls in frustration, ripping his shirt off his body, throwing it into the grass. It’s too hot, not even the cold November air can help him cool down. He paces back and forth, gulping down an unholy amount of saliva that rebuild itself continuously.

Something is wrong with him. Maybe it’s not Hayato’s fault. Maybe Wakatoshi is just sick. Maybe he needs to see a doctor and get some medicine. Whatever is happening to him, it can’t be healthy.

He finds himself panting, body moving closer to the house again on instinct. He stops himself, turns around again. The only thing he does is picking his shirt up again, pulling it over his head. He feels like he is about to explode but he doesn’t know why.

 _Omega_ , his instincts grumble, _Omega, Omega, Omega. Claim. Bite. Take. Breed._

_Mine._

Wakatoshi blinks. His chest heaves, and his hands shake.

When looks up from his shaking hands and realises he’s not outside anymore, but inside the house, his heart skips a beat.

He has no idea how he got back inside.

The scent is back. It surrounds him. It’s subtle here, in the hallway, but there is no way ignoring it. It calls Wakatoshi. Teases him. _Begs_ him.

He closes his eyes, an exasperated sigh escaping his lips. He can’t do this. He needs to get away. He must …

His feet start moving. Forward, forward, until he’s standing at the top of the staircase leading down into the basement. The scent is lingering here. Eita must have left Hayato not too long ago.

The scent was probably sticking to his clothes because he was in there, was with the Omega, he touched the Omega, he …

Wakatoshi draws back his lips. A low growl escapes his throat.

No one is allowed to touch his Omega _. No one_!

He takes the steps down without hesitating now. There’s no reason to. He _needs_ to see his Omega. He needs to be with him. Guard him from others. Hayato is his, _his_ alone. He won’t allow Eita to touch the Omega. He won’t allow anyone to come near the Omega. _His_ Omega.

When Wakatoshi opens the door to their safe room, the scent that engulfs him soothes his vibrating body and his fast-paced pulse. He takes a deep breath, his nostrils flaring.

This is what he has been longing for all the time. This is where he belongs.

There, in the middle of the big bed, lies a small bundle. His body is covered by a thin blanket. It’s not enough to hide him away from Wakatoshi.

There is no nest. Most of the blankets and pillows are thrown around haphazardly, as if nothing were able to spend Hayato some sort of comfort. Maybe Wakatoshi can.

Hayato mumbles something into his pillow, unable to stop his hips from rutting against the bedsheets. Wakatoshi closes the door behind himself and walks towards the bed. His senses heighten. He feels like he’s on a hunt, preying on a deer.

This deer, though, wants Wakatoshi to devour it.

When Hayato realises who entered the room, he moves a little, looking at the intruder. The thin blanket slips away, revealing his flushed, naked body. With his hands, he reaches for the Alpha, sobbing his name.

It takes one, two, three seconds for Wakatoshi to kneel on the bed and hover above the Omega. He breathes in deeply, almost tasting the heady scent of arousal on his tongue, the taste of cum and slick and pure submission.

He lets his gaze roam over the naked body beneath him. The flushed cheeks, the dark, teary eyes. Hayato’s tousled hair. His chest is moving in a fast pace, pumping oxygen through the shivering body. His small, perky breasts move in sync, his nipples dark, erect. Wakatoshi wants to grab them, squeeze, them – suck, lick, taste. But he doesn’t.

Instead, he lets his gaze wander downwards, over the curve of Hayato’s hips. Harshly, he grabs the Omegas thighs and presses himself close, his cock throbbing against the soft skin. It’s hard, aching with desire.

Hayato moans at the touch, begging without saying what it is that he wants from Wakatoshi.

The Alpha understands, nonetheless. His body understands.

He rushes do undress himself, almost ripping his shirt in the process. When his boxer briefs fall to the floor, he hurries to kneel in between those welcoming, warm thighs again. His cock jumps with interest at the display in front of him.

 _Omega_ , his instincts scream at him. _Mine. Bite. Claim. Breed_.

He stills nonetheless, watching the Omega beneath him, taking in all the little things he’s barely ever seen before.

Hayato’s cock is rigid, lying flush against his stomach. It’s small, maybe the size of Wakatoshi’s palm. Precum is drippling onto his heated skin. It looks as if it’s begging Wakatoshi to touch it. Further down, his skin is glistening with wetness. His hole looks almost too small to take in something as big as Wakatoshi’s cock. Slick is lazily trailing down into the already damp fabric of the bed sheets.

Wakatoshi takes a deep breath, his nostrils flaring as he is taking in the sweet yet musky scent that invites him further …

“Alpha …” Hayato sobs, his hips buckling upwards, urging Wakatoshi to move closer. “Alpha, please … put it in …”

Wakatoshi breathe hitches at this and then, his body moves on instinct alone.

There’s no reasonable thought in his head anymore as he bends forward, nudging his hip against Hayato’s.

He grabs his cock and guides it downwards.

The Omega’s fingers find him, too, placing the Alpha’s erection in between the wet folds. When Wakatoshi feels the twitching hole against the head of his cock, he bares his teeth and snaps his hips forward in one abrupt motion, growling lowly.

It’s hot … so hot and tight, already convulsing around him.

The feeling is overwhelming. Wakatoshi doesn’t even hear the pain-filled yelp the omega lets out. Instead, he picks up a fast pace instantly, burying his cock into the willing Omega underneath him again and again and again. Even if he wanted to, he couldn’t stop now. It is as if his body moves on its own.

With his nose, the Alpha searches the Omega’s neck, sucking at the minor scent gland at the side of his jaw.

The skin feels warm and wet here.

There are sobs, borderline pained, borderline ecstatic. The Omega’s legs close around Wakatoshi’s back, holding him close, though the Omega’s nails break the skin on his back as if he wanted to urge him to stop-

Wakatoshi’s nose trails the line of Hayato’s jaw as he’s pounding into him. The Omega turns his head and for a second, the picture burns itself into Wakatoshi’s mind – his cheeks flushed, hair a mess, his brows scrunched. His eyes are overspilling with tears, though he moans shamelessly as Wakatoshi fucks into him. His lips are red, plush. Wakatoshi doesn’t hesitate to bend down and press his mouth onto Hayato’s.

It’s soft, wet, pliant. In an instant, Hayato’s tongue licks against the seam of Wakatoshi’s lips. When the Alpha opens his mouth, a lustful grunt escapes his throat. The feeling of Hayato’s tongue against his own, wet, playful, cocky; the vibrations of his moans against Wakatoshi’s mouth is what tips him over.

Wakatoshi’s hips stutter as his knot catches.

He hasn’t even realised how it has started to inflate, making the process of fucking Hayato into the mattress increasingly harder.

Stifling a moan, Wakatoshi presses into the Omega, knot tying them together. His cock twitches, releasing his hot cum into the tight hole.

Hayato whimpers, his arms tensing as he clutches onto Wakatoshi’s shoulders.

Wakatoshi slowly catches his breath.

He still feels weird, but it’s better than before. For the moment, he’s almost relaxed. His body feels hot, but also spent; oversensitive, but at the same time invincible.

For some time, he just lets his head rest into the pillow, right beside Hayato’s head. The fabric smells of his hair wash and the rich scent of his heat.

None of them says a word.

It’s just after some time, when Wakatoshi’s knot finally deflates enough so he can pull out, that Hayato breaks the silence. As Wakatoshi slips out of him, the Omega hisses with pain.

Wakatoshi lifts his head, looking at him, alerted.

There are still tears spilling out of Hayato’s eyes.

Within a second, Wakatoshi grabs Hayato’s face, frantically searching it for more signs of discomfort. What has happened? Why is he crying? Has Wakatoshi done something wrong?

“It hurt,” Hayato sniffles, but he snuggles his wet cheek into Wakatoshi’s hand. “It really hurt …”

“Hayato …”

Wakatoshi doesn’t know what to say, what to do to make it better. The ecstasy he had been feeling is replaced by dread. He frowns, watching the Omega pressing a kiss into his palm.

“But I’m glad …” Hayato murmurs, peppering his palm with kisses, “so glad you chose to come and see me … Wakatoshi … Alpha … please take care of me …”

The instinct, the beast in Wakatoshi that has urged him to go downstairs and make the Omega his, roars at this

Wakatoshi nuzzles his face into Hayato’s neck and softly sucks on his minor scent gland. The Omega gasps, then he laughs a little. His hands wander up his shoulders, grabbing his hair gently, tugging at it.

“Can you get me a wet towel, Toshi? So I can clean myself up?”

Startled by the nickname, Wakatoshi lifts his head, looking at the Omega with a serious expression on his face. He contemplates, studying the drying traces of tears on his cheeks, his dark eyes, the plush lips. Then, he bends downward, softly nipping at Hayato’s lip.

The Omega huffs a laugh and lifts his head a little, reciprocating the kiss softly.

Wakatoshi doesn’t deepen it, though.

He must take care of his Omega.

Hours pass like this. Hours filled with peaceful closeness, just Hayato snuggling into Wakatoshi’s arms, just them breathing in each other’s scents.

In between though, the beast in Wakatoshi comes to the surface a few times. It seems to sync with the times when Hayato’s body grows hotter, and his scent gets muskier, his voice needier.

The second time Wakatoshi buries himself into Hayato, he forces himself to be more careful until the Omega pants from arousal, urging him to fuck him harder.

This time, it doesn’t hurt. Both enjoy it to the fullest, if the unabashed moans the Omega lets out are an indicator.

But the lingering smell of Hayato’s cum and his slick are driving the beast insane, over and over again.

Fuck. Knot. Take care. Cuddle. Kiss. Fuck. Knot. Take care. Cuddle-

Until Hayato goes limp in Wakatoshi’s arms, body exhausted, his needs sated. His scent, which has spiked a few hours prior, mellows down, only leaving the content, comforting scent that usually sticks to Hayato behind.

Wakatoshi watches his resting form, the soft expression on his face. He nuzzles his nose into his hair and kisses it. If they can stay like this for a while, Wakatoshi will be happy, he thinks.

The feeling of satisfaction doesn’t last as long for him, though. His hands start roaming on their own again, touching skin, hips, breasts. His cock slowly gets hard again, too.

He presses his nose into the crook of Hayato’s neck, chasing his soft, relaxed pulse.

There is something he needs to do. Something that is missing. Wakatoshi inhales deeply. The beast stills.

 _Claim_.

Wakatoshi’s breath hitches. He presses his nose closer, nibbling on the soft skin of Hayato’s neck. The Omega stirs, chuckling lightly.

“Your rut is still not over, hm?” He hums. The words don’t really make sense for Wakatoshi, but he doesn’t try to understand them, either. He is too focused on what he must do.

If he doesn’t do it, this Omega won’t be his. And he needs Hayato. He needs him in his life, needs him in his bed – needs him forever.

“Want you,” Wakatoshi murmurs as he sucks onto the soft skin of Hayato’s neck. The Omega chuckles, cradling his hair.

“Wouldn’t have guessed that …” He teases, pressing his hip against Wakatoshi’s erection.

Wakatoshi gasps at the friction. He lifts his head, his gaze meeting Hayato’s.

The Omega smiles softly, his hands still buried in Wakatoshi’s hair.

“It’s fine … C’mere …”

His lips are soft when they press onto Wakatoshi’s. The warm, wet touch of his tongue against Wakatoshi’s mouth makes the Alpha gasp. He opens up for Hayato, meeting his tongue with his own.

There are things he wants to say, things he wants to ask.

Wakatoshi wants to know if Hayato wants to be his Omega, if he longs for the bite as much as Wakatoshi, if his teeth burn with the desire to claim, too. But he can’t find his voice. Not a single word comes out.

Desperately, he deepens the kiss.

There is no way he doesn’t want to, the beast in Wakatoshi decides.

This Omega is here with him.

This Omega pushes him away lightly, smiling lewdly.

This Omega tells him there is lube in the nightstand, and they might need it.

Wakatoshi falls back onto his knees and watches how Hayato turns around, getting down on all fours, reaching for the nightstand.

The sight he offers makes Wakatoshi’s mouth salivate.

Before he can stop himself, he reaches out and pushes his face into the wet folds, shiny with slick and cum. He licks into him, tasting him.

Hayato shrieks and loses his balance. The hand with which he was holding himself upright slips and he loses grip on the bedframe. A loud thud echoes in the room, followed by a pained groan.

With the heel of his foot, Hayato pushes Wakatoshi away. He turns around, hand cupping his own cheek, a pained expression on his face.

“Fuck … Fuck, I think- hey, wait!”

With this delicious taste still on his tongue, Wakatoshi can’t contain himself any longer. He grabs the Omega’s hips and pulls him closer, pushing himself in between his thighs. When Hayato lets go of his face to grab Wakatoshi’s shoulder instead, the Alpha can see that his cheek is bleeding. Either he scraped his skin, or it broke when he hit the edge of the nightstand with his face.

Either way, the scent of blood clouds Wakatoshi’s senses. If his thoughts have been in disarray before, they are now silenced to one single, instinctive need.

_Omega. Mine. Claim._

“Wakatoshi,” gasps Hayato, a mixture of shock and fear in his eyes. “Slow down, please … I think my heat is over. I want to help you with your rut but please be careful, I don’t know how well my body can take you outside of a heat.”

Leaning down, Wakatoshi brings his face close to Hayato’s. The Omega shivers slightly when Wakatoshi drags his tongue over the trail of blood on his face. It tastes just as delicious as his cunt.

“Wakatoshi …?” Hayato’s voice quivers, his grip on his shoulder tightens. “Careful, yes? Promise?”

As a response, the Alpha growls lowly, a display of his dominance. The Omega stills at this, body easing up a little in instinctive submission.

This time, Wakatoshi guides himself into Hayato’s wet hole.

The Omega hisses with discomfort, but Wakatoshi is in no place to stop himself. His instincts overpower any clear thought.

“… toshi …!” Hayato gasps. He reaches a hand towards the nightstand, but as Wakatoshi pushes into him with a harsh motion, his arm crashes against the wood.

The pained cry is muffled by Wakatoshi’s lips on his mouth. The Alpha fucks into him effortlessly, the heat around his cock almost as tight as the first time. With his nose, Wakatoshi searches his way forward, over the line of Hayato’s jaw, his neck, mouthing at his minor scent gland.

He needs to reach further down. There, at the base of Hayato’s neck … Wakatoshi can smell it, but it’s so hard to reach like this. He tries it, nonetheless.

Wakatoshi wants to seal their bond, claim him, knot him, breed him until Hayato is heavy with Wakatoshi’s pups, so everyone can see he belongs to Wakatoshi.

The thought spurs him on even more. He picks up the pace of his hips, slamming into the welcoming, tight hole. With his face, he presses forward to the base of Hayato’s neck.

Maybe that’s the moment in which Hayato realises what Wakatoshi is trying to do.

He grabs his shoulders with more force.

“Wakatoshi! … No, don’t – Stop!”

With Hayato’s fearful voice ringing in his ears, he bites into the sweet, soft flesh, breaking skin and tasting blood.


End file.
